'CT also played a role in BoE resolution'

WHILE THE national compromise with customs over the bill of entry (BoE) impasse was rightly attributed to the Durban arm of the SA Association of Freight Forwarders (SAAFF), the Cape Town shipping community also played a valuable role.
According to Gavin Cooper, Cape chairman of SAAFF, this matter was already under discussion in Cape Town in June last year.
Customs controller Fanus Versveld met with SAAFF and a working group from the Port Liaison Forum to discuss the impracticality of the new customs proposal. The authorities were demanding a container number before they would clear the newly-designed bill of entry, while the lines refused to release a container number without a customs-approved BoE.
"It was already agreed at that stage that a container number on the bill of entry was an impossibility," said Cooper, "and that the shipping line booking reference number should be adopted as being the controlling reference on exports."
This has now been accepted nationally.