The industry has expressed disappointment at the further delay to South Africa’s new customs legislation. This comes after the South African Revenue Service (Sars) announced it would only be implementing the muchawaited Registration, Licensing and Accreditation process (RLA) in 2020. RLA was initially expected to be implemented on April 1 this year, but this was postponed to September and now to next year. According to one clearing agent, indications are that implementation could happen in February next year. “It would be an understatement to say we are disappointed with the delays in the new Customs Acts Programme (NCAP),” he said. Another agent told FTW trade in general did not appreciate the continuous delays and it damaged Sars’ reputation as a capable organisation. A spokesman for the Cape’s Port Liaison Forum (PLF) said while it was understandable that the revenue service had to ensure it implemented a working system, the ongoing delays were worrying as they spoke directly to capacity at Sars as well as issues of reliability and efficiency
