The advent of customs modernisation has forced clearing agents to reinvent themselves, and for Beitbridge Border Clearing Agency this has meant new challenges and new directions. “We’ve had to become tracking and monitoring agents for transporters rather than just clearing agents,” managing director Lin Botha told FTW. It’s a service currently offered from Beitbridge only, but the company has hinted at expanding its reach. Long before the advent of customs modernisation, agents wanting to clear cargo at Beitbridge were required to register with Customs for which a R10 000 fee was payable – and they had to pay a R100 licence fee. Now, for the cost of a R100 licence fee, they can register to clear at any port in the country. For BBCA, whose business model was based on customs clearance for other agents, this was a huge blow and resulted in a significant loss of revenue. “At present we get the trucks, get the loads, see the drivers, and take all the documents through to customs or allow the drivers to go through and we check the documentation,” says Botha. “But some truckers are not even sending drivers to clearing agents at Beitbridge – they just bypass the queue. We only hear about them if they have an issue or a stop and need your help,” says Botha. And this is why a locally based agent is critically important, in her view. Another area into which the company has diversified is customs supervisions. “We went out and looked for supervision work where customs needed to check transit loads – that the same cargo was leaving the country as had come in. If you process a transit entry you’re not obliged to pay duties because it’s only coming in and leaving – but you have to prove to customs that goods have left the country,” said Botha. “In another modernisation move, customs then said we were actually delaying the trucks by supervising them and decided they would do a marked for entry and marked for exit and dispense with supervision – so we lost another batch of revenue.” However, despite these challenges BBCA has managed to continue growing and diversifying. “We consider ourselves to be a vital cog in the whole supply chain,” said Botha. “People assume that the drivers can do everything for themselves until the wheels fall off. But it’s not really that simple and we’ve been blessed in that a lot of clients do understand the value that we add. “We’re the middle guys between the importers, exporters, transporters, drivers and customs. “We’ve elected to act as transporters’ representatives so that drivers report here when they need money, tolls etc. The idea is to make ourselves indispensable in many ways. Transporters ask importers and exporters to use us because it’s simpler for the transporter to work through someone who has their best interests at heart.” INSERT & CAPTION People assume that the drivers can do everything for themselves until the wheels fall off. – Lin Botha
