‘It’s vital to ensure goods are locally manufactured’ EXPORTS HAVE traditionally received low priority in terms of customs controls, SARS media liaison Bheki Zwane told FTW.. “Like all administrations,” he said, “SARS is conscious of the imperative of minimising the costs of the country’s exports on the global market. “On the other hand, access to those markets today is dependent upon the ability of customs to ensure that the goods are indeed of local manufacture. “SARS periodically hosts teams from other countries who visit the country to verify that goods imported from the republic qualify in terms of the trade agreements - especially the SA-European Union (EU) and the US Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).” There have also been a number of cases where large companies have been found guilty of defrauding the state through VAT refunds on ghost exports, Zwane told FTW. “These are exports that exist on paper,” he said, “but where actual goods are not exported, or in much smaller quantities than declared.” You can also add to this the new requirements that customs should ensure compliance with the container security initiative (CSI) imposed by the US, added Zwane. “In all this, SARS still impresses upon officers that no undue delay in the clearance of imports and exports should be caused by customs,” he said. “Every reported instance of undue delay is thoroughly investigated - and action taken against officers where they are found to have behaved in an unprofessional manner.”
