Just three months since the reinstatement of the National Customs and Excise Operations Forum, industry believes the South African Revenue Service (Sars) is making progress in addressing its issues.
According to Clifford Evans, customs liaison manager for Berry & Donaldson, the first meeting took place on June 29 and they are held monthly to address urgent concerns which have increased significantly over the past couple of years. “Communication between Sars and industry has definitely improved due to the forum and there has been a general improvement in service delivery within the last two months – with fewer matters being escalated to national level and rather being resolved at the branches locally,” he said.
Louise Wiggett, Global Trade Solution (GTS) founder and managing director, agreed saying the very structured and focused approach of the forum was delivering results. “There has really been an overall improvement and trade is seeing substantial benefits thanks to the more transparent and open approach between Sars and the industry,” she told FTW. Open to representatives of trade associations that have been nominated to attend, the forum is hosted by Sars in Pretoria.
The approach, said Wiggett, was an increase in customs compliance and advanced trade facilitation at ground level.
“The meetings have resulted in Sars understanding the issues faced by trade and there is a willingness to address these concerns – such as delays in issuing tariff, value and origin determinations, issues surrounding the National Processing Pool, consistency in applying policy and procedures across Sars branches, and issues relating to licensing and registration,” said Evans.
