All systems go for February 14 ACM launch

With the deadline looming
for electronic submission of
manifests to SA Revenue
Service (Sars) by road
transport operators, those
who are unprepared stand to
lose out in the competitive
market for cross-border cargo
movement.
The automated cargo
management (ACM) system
is Sars’ automated solution
for the receipt and processing
of prescribed reports for
international cargo imported
to or exported from SA. It
replaced the previous manifest
acquittal system (MAS), which
was decommissioned on May
6, 2011.
In line with international
practices, Sars requires that
cargo be reported to it prior
to arrival for the purposes of
screening and risk assessment.
Reports may only be submitted
electronically to the ACM
system by means of electronic
data interchange (EDI) in the
prescribed United Nations
Electronic Data Interchange
for Administration, Commerce
and Transport (UN/Edifact)
message standards.
And failure to comply will
force trucks to queue in the
slow-moving ‘manual’ lane at
the borders, while their EDIready
counterparts promptly
pass the controls.
The first phase of the
implementation involved
manifests for cargo imported
by sea and air last May,
but road freight manifests
for imports and exports –
including the Botswana,
Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland
(BLNS) members of the
Southern African Customs
Union (Sacu) – will kick off
on February 14, according to
Gavin Kelly, technical and
operations manager of the
Road Freight Association
(RFA).
Although it was originally
due to be implemented at
the beginning of this year,
Sars was “fantastically
co-operative” about this, he
told FTW. They heeded the
RFA’s request that they not
introduce it then, but rather
wait until February/March to
make sure that all the ports
of entry had the technical
equipment in place to handle
the system.
“The tentative date for going
live on a trial run,” Kelly
added, “is now February 14
at the Kopfontein border post
with Botswana.
“The idea is to implement
ACM there, and clear up
all the bugs before rolling it
out after about a month to
other border posts. Finally,
when everything is running
smoothly, it will be introduced
at the major border posts, like
Beitbridge.”
The justification for the new
system, according to Sars, is
that it complies with the global
benchmarks for a streamlined,
but controlled, flow of cargo.