A high-tech container
scanning device will begin
operating at the Beitbridge
border post between SA and
Zimbabwe in the next few
weeks.
Part of the motivation
behind this move, according
to the SA Revenue Service
(Sars), is that the Beitbridge
border has been identified as a
smuggling ‘hotspot’.
“The roll-out of the
cargo scanner will bolster
enforcement activities at the
border and across the region,
and help to address the risk
posed by illicit smuggling of
goods through our ports of
entry,” said the Sars release.
Also, over the next few years,
Sars will roll out additional
scanners at other border posts.
According to Brian
Kalshoven, consultant
manager of the Beitbridge
Border Clearing Agency, the
premises for this scanner are
currently being erected within
the commercial area at the
border post.
“It’s a massive new facility
that is going up on the SA side,”
he told FTW. “Furthermore,
technicians have been seen at
the border post upgrading all
the surveillance cameras.”
And a senior Sars contact
told FTW that it was
once these premises were
completed and the trained
team assembled that the
scanner would come into
operation. “I’ve heard it
suggested,” he added, “that the
implementation date is end-
February.”
He also told FTW that the
scanner due for the border was
formerly at the Port of Durban,
before it was updated with a
new scanner. “It’s a relocatable
unit, so it has been no problem
in moving it up to Beitbridge,”
he added.
And, with one already
allocated to the Port of Cape
Town, the first steps in
locating these units at all SA’s
major ports of entry (including
the landside borders) are well
under way.
This plan is supported by
Sars cargo scanning experience
since 2008.
“This,” said Sars customs,
“has shown that the true
potential of the scanner
solution can only be realised
when it is based upon a
standardised and stable
declaration, processing and
inspection environment. As
the customs environment
becomes modernised, it
provides the ideal opportunity
to fully exploit the potential of
the non-intrusive inspection
capability provided by a
scanner.”
And Sars was also
encouraged by the fact that
these screening tools would
provide an opportunity for
third party data to be used for
customs’ risk and assessment
purposes. It felt that the
availability of the three sets
of data would enhance Sars’
audit and investigative ability.
“For the first time
integrated information is
available,” the Sars release
to FTW said, “allowing
for integrated audits,
investigations across tax
types, and help in the
detection of cross-border illicit
transactions.
“Over the next five years
Sars will develop an integrated
view of each taxpayer and
trader through a single
registration system for tax
and a consolidated view of all
customs transactions.”
CAPTION
Sign: Beitbridge Border Post
