THE UNIFICATION of the Southern African clearing and forwarding (c&f) associations is proceeding apace, with nine national bodies now members of the Federation, according to Edward Little, executive director of the SA Association of Freight Forwarders (SAAFF).
SA, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mauritius, Tanzania, Namibia, Botswana and Mozambique are now signed-up members of the Federation, with Swaziland and Lesotho still sitting in the wings.
Present at the meeting by invitation was Mr J O Mkinga from the Technical Unit of the SATCC (Southern African Transport and Communications Commission) who confirmed that amongst the conclusions and resolutions taken at the Protocol Implementation Workshop in Pretoria in January was that one of the regional associations which had been identified as consultative members was the Federation.
This would necessitate their becoming more closely involved with the committees established to deal with integrated transport, road transport and road traffic, roads, railways, maritime and inland waterway transport, and border post operations.
As the members of the various associations making up the Federation are in daily contact with shipping lines, customs authorities, border posts, harbour authorities, railways and road hauliers, their representation in the above committee makes a great deal of sense in that they are able to point out present snags where and why things are running smoothly, Little said.
