The loading documents that are compulsory for road freight operators entering the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are not a “green-flow” ease-of-passage solution for the routinely congested Copperbelt border of Kasumbalesa, a trade facilitator has told Freight News.
Commenting on an article (*) about Fiche Électronique de Renseignement à L’importation (FERI) certificates, the one-stop border post consultant, who asked that his name be withheld, said it created a wrong impression that the documents enabled preclearance.
He said: “I fail to understand how the FERI certificate facilitates preclearance when it is taking three days for DRC customs to clear cargo at Kasumbalesa.”
According to the article in the current edition of Freight Features, “the FERI certificate mandate is set to expedite the preclearance process for DRC-bound cargo.
“By streamlining administrative procedures, the aim is to reduce the time spent at the border, thus enhancing the overall trade experience for transporters.
“This initiative is expected to contribute significantly to reducing congestion and boosting the efficiency of cross-border logistics.”
It was disingenuous, said the consultant, who recently attended talks in Kinshasa aimed at solving persistent bottlenecking at the border, to create the idea that a FERI certificate resulted in the fast-tracking of freight through Kasumbalesa.
“Preclearance means the cargo is cleared before arrival at the border, and that all that is necessary is to verify documents against physical load.”
He said although the intention behind FERI certificates was good, Kasumbalesa remained a problematic border, often congested by trucks struggling to pass through Africa’s most important copper and cobalt transit point.
- Read the article here: https://tinyurl.com/3ep6nmba
