The September 17 launch of
a new project by SA Revenue
Service (Sars), with the pilot
scheme based at SA Container
Depots (SACD) in Durban,
aimed at on-premises container
inspections, will definitely
improve the turn-around time
from inspection to clearing the
containers, according to Lee
Narsey, IT specialist at SACD.
The new procedure will see
a number of customs staff,
under the customs team leader,
moving from their current
office in the city centre to the
depot – where they will be on
duty from 07:30-16:00.
“This alone will greatly
increase the number of
inspections that customs will
be able to attend to each day,
rather than the couple of hours
each morning they used to
spend at the depot,” Narsey
told FTW. “They will also
have direct access to the Sars
service manager inspection
system through their I-pads
when based at SACD. This
will enable them to do their
inspections and finalise reports
quickly, without the need to
return to the office for further
necessary information, which
previously delayed large
numbers of the inspections.”
When Narsey spoke to
FTW last Friday, SACD was
busy lining up the first batch
of containers for inspection
the following Monday. And
the procedure had been very
quick and smoothly executed,
according to Narsey.
“With this initiative,” he
said, “we submit a list of
bookings to customs through
the system for them to finalise
the next day’s available
inspection schedule. They
respond by telling us which
will be tailgate inspections,
and which full unpack-andrepack
inspections. This allows
us to place the containers in
the appropriate parts of the
warehouse, and to allocate in
advance the necessary work
teams.”
The customs team leader
then sends an EDI message via
the Sars system to the clearing
agent scheduling the booking
time, according to customs. If
the clearing agent cannot be
present at the allocated time,
he can send an email message
to a dedicated email address.
“This should all combine to
vastly improve the speed and
efficiency of the inspection
routines, and I’m of the
opinion that this initiative will
save on the costs to industry,”
said Narsey.
Choosing SACD for the
pilot scheme is simple logic,
said MD Graham Peinke.
“Over 90% of all
inspections take place at our
premises anyway,” he told
FTW. “And, in centralising
container inspections,
turnaround times will improve
from an average of four days
to 36 hours, we are told.
“It’s quite exciting for us.
We see it as a public/private
partnership, designed to speed
up the whole clearing process
– a very desirable situation for
the freight industry.
CAPTION
Graham Peinke ... ‘Turnaround
times will improve from an average
of four days to 36 hours.'
