Forwarder wants to see more benefit from ACM

After a year of operation, the
SA Revenue Service (Sars)
customs’ new automated
cargo management (ACM)
system may be working
well for Sars, but it’s doing
nothing for the industry,
according to a spokesman
for a major clearing and
forwarding company.
“A lot of time and money
has been spent on digitising
what was previously
analogue documentation,
but we’re still having to
submit printed forms to
shipping lines and the like to
get cargo released,” he told
FTW.
He suggested that a
suitable simile would be that
it was like the emperor’s
new clothes.
“I don’t think it has lived
up to its promise.”
Neither does Dave
Watts, consultant on
maritime matters to the
SA Association of Freight
Forwarders (Saaff).
“I haven’t had intimate
dealings with the system,”
he said, “but the impression
I have gained from others
who are closely related to
it, is that it isn’t working
very well for the freight
industry.”
This contradicts the
fanfare that accompanied the
launch of ACM in 2011.
Beyers Theron, Sars
executive for customs
modernisation, told FTW
at the time that Sars had
replaced its manifest
acquittal system (MAS)
with a revised ACM as part
of a far-reaching customs
modernisation programme
– and it provided a range of
benefits.”
But industry voices are
not convinced that that’s the
case.