Beitbridge one-stop border gets a fillip

Industry has welcomed the signing of an agreement of “mutual assistance between South Africa and Zimbabwe’s customs administrations” which is set to boost efforts to establish a one-stopborder post (OSBP) between the two countries. The agreement was signed by president Jacob Zuma and Zimbabwean president, Robert Mugabe, during the first Zimbabwean state visit in two decades earlier this month. “A move like this is extremely important from an African perspective but even more so for South Africa to retain its gateway status,” said customs consultant David Liebenberg. He added that it would require the buy-in of all parties to ensure success. According to him, the relevant authorities should work with trade to establish the most favourable processes around the establishment of the OSBP – and ensure that the interaction is positive, workable and has all parties’ interests at heart. “One only has to look at how successful SA was when we implemented the ‘new’ Customs Procedure Codes. This was definitely down to the fact that the South African Revenue Service (Sars) collaborated with trade prior to implementation. This ensured that all parties were aware of what was expected of them and how the system worked,” Liebenberg pointed out. South African Shippers Transport and Logistics Council (Sastalc) CEO, Brenda Horne Ferreira, hailed the move. She said that the starting point for successful implementation of an OSBP between SA and Zimbabwe would be political will and support for bilateral trade facilitation. “National Treasury is currently developing an OSBP policy strategy and this ought to guide the process going forward,” said Horne Ferreira. “The major stumbling block to this is the fact there is no cohesion with the two countries’ governing legislation. It will also be a major challenge to get all the different authorities – border police, health authorities, immigration etc – to sing from the same song sheet,” said Liebenberg.