Two alternatives for release in other Customs- controlled areas DON'T BLAME us, we're doing our best in a new Customs system. Those are the heartfelt words of Paul Wolvaardt, g.m. of Cargo Management Centre (CMC) in Durban.
The new Customs procedures have raised two conditions to which agents - and licensed container depots like CMC - are having to adapt. No cargo, once landed, can be released in another Customs control area apart from that to which it is manifested. Any redirection of cargo has to be notified to Customs 72-hours prior to the arrival of the carrier vessel (an old regulation in the Customs rule-book, but one which they have ignored up to now).
But a lot of agents are not adapting to these changes too easily, according to Wolvaardt.
What a lot of them are doing to speed matters up (wrongly), he said, is to produce a faxed copy of the Johannesburg DA 500 on which the RIB (removal in bond) number - authorised for removal by rail - is inserted, and then wanting to take release by road.
Customs in Durban have stated that this is not acceptable. If it's an RIB authorised by rail, then it must go by rail - not by road. They are now going to insist that we produce a Customs and PX/CX stamped copy of the rail Intac document when we acquit our manifests with Durban Customs.
Only bills of entry accepted and stamped release authorised by Customs in Durban are valid for release in Durban. Bills passed in other Customs-controlled areas cannot be accepted. But a lack of understanding of all this is making CMC an unwarranted target for complaints from the uninformed amongst its client base.
Too often we are faced with a barrage of complaints that we are hard to deal with- and us having to listen to other depots aren't doing it, so why are you? type stories, said Wolvaardt. But we (and the other container depots as well) are helpless. The Customs regulations are there, and we are all going to have to learn quickly to abide by them. There are two alternative methods to obtain release in other Customs-controlled areas, of cargo manifested for, and unpacked in, LCL (less than container load) warehouses in Durban, Wolvaardt explained.
l Remove the cargo on an RIB to another Customs-licensed warehouse in the other area/city by rail, air or sea. If the container operator/c&f agent has a road bond with Durban Customs, then the cargo may be released against an RIB authorising release by road - again to another Customs-licensed warehouse, Wolvaard said.
l Redirection of cargo to any other Customs-controlled area/city may be done by submitting an amended manifest in triplicate to Customs in Durban - 72-hours prior to he arrival of the vessel. In these cases, said Wolvaardt, a Customs-licensed warehouse in Durban will unpack the cargo from the original container and repack it into either a PX or CX container, seal it, and forward it to a Customs-licensed warehouse by rail. That warehouse will then effect releases against Customs release authorised bills of entry and acquit the manifest. Because this matter has raised a wealth of complaint from readers of FTW, we have approached Customs head office in Pretoria to get a full explanation of the new (or now-imposed) regulations - and what this means in practice.
Director of Customs, Gavin Collinet, is busy compiling this information - and FTW will carry it in a forthcoming issue.
In the meantime, any problems should first be raised with your area controller of Customs. If you are still in a quandary, Collinet has expressed himself open for advice - at telephone: (012) 314-9747.
