Advance clearance conundrum faces fruit exporters

Industry has expressed
some reservation following
a concession by the South
African Revenue Service
to change
timelines
for the
submission
of export
clearance
declarations.
In line
with the new
customs acts,
Sars initially
called for
all export
clearances to
be submitted
at least two hours before
cargo arrived at the
export port and said that
declarations could only be
issued after containers had
been sealed.
After much uproar
from industry over the
impracticality of this
regulation Sars conceded and
has subsequently removed
the requirement that export
declarations may only be
submitted after containers
have been sealed.
Sars has said that export
clearances can now be
submitted after cargo has
arrived at the stack – but
at least 24
hours prior
to the first
containers
under a
declaration
being loaded
on board a
vessel.
“Whilst
these moves
must be
welcomed
we still have
certain
reservations because there
are certain industries where
this will still be impossible,”
said one expert FTW spoke
to. “Currently the perishable
and wine industries enjoy
time concessions ranging
from seven up to 14 days
after sailing to submit their
export customs declarations.
Naturally, this provides no
visibility for Sars, which is
admittedly problematic.”
The expert, who preferred
not to be named, said this
requirement to submit well
before vessel departure
would in some cases still be
problematic.
“In the case of perishables
particularly, you have a
situation where containers
are delivered, often in quite
large numbers, direct to
vessels after the stacks
have closed. Typically this
happens on weekends,” he
explained. “The vessel sails
on Sunday or perhaps
Monday morning,
and the agent only
gets the necessary
information during
the course of Monday.
In such a case, there
is no possibility of
giving Sars anything
in time to conduct
any intervention. So
one must assume
that a provisional
or incomplete entry
would have to be submitted,
followed by a supplementary
declaration. “
This became a problem,
the source said, because
in some cases the export
quantity could not even be
approximately predicted as
the fruit was still growing
on the trees a mere day or
two before it was delivered
directly to the ship, and no
foreign buyers had yet been
found
“And since the
‘provisional entry’ cannot
be an accurate ref lection
of what’s in the container,
surely it defeats the Sars
objective of having visibility
before the cargo leaves?”
But, he said, there was
no doubting that the changes
made by Sars to the rules
guiding the legislation were
a major step in the right
direction.
“Sars has recognised
the issues pointed out to it
by industry and has made
some real concessions.
That in itself is indicative
of the improved working
relationship between
industry and Sars.”
INSERT
Sars has recognised
the issues pointed
out to it by industry
and has made some
real concessions.
CAPTION
Currently the perishable and wine industries enjoy time
concessions ranging from seven up to 14 days after sailing to
submit their export customs declarations.