Ensuring that its programmes are compliant and aligned with the South African Revenue Service (Sars) New Customs Acts Programme (NCAP) is a key focus for clearing and IT systems company, Easy Clear. Sales manager Michael Henning told FTW that the pending implementation of the Reporting and Conveyancing of Goods (RCG) project, which supports the legislative framework for the reporting of cargo and goods under the new Customs Control Act, will impact all freight forwarders in the supply chain, along with the systems they have in place for the administration and reporting of goods to Sars. “I expect when the RCG programme is implemented we will see a dramatic improvement in reporting across all modalities and from all freight forwarders,” he said. Building on the foundations laid by Sars’ current manifest processing (MPR) system, RCG will be the first component to be delivered under NCAP. Currently MPR enables shipping lines and airlines to report both pre-arrival and acquittal (post-arrival) manifest information to Sars electronically, thus reducing their reporting cost of compliance considerably. The new Cargo Processing System (CPS), to be implemented under the RCG programme, improves cargo management and supply chain security according to Sars. CPS – which includes both import and export reporting as well as transhipment reporting – introduces a number of new supply chain reports, including outturn reports, gate reports and pre-loading notices for containerised cargo. This first phase of RCG is expected to be implemented in the first half of 2018. According to Henning, the RCG implementation will be followed by the Automated Registration and Licensing process for all entities in the supply chain. “This will see all role players in the industry having to re-register with Sars so that they can be identified within the supply chain based on the roles they play,” he explained, pointing out that this would allow Sars to implement the Authorised Economic Operator programme (AEO) and Preferred Trader programme – all of which are part of the NCAP. “If customers are not leveraging the technology that allows them to participate in these programmes, they will be majorly disadvantaged,” he said
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I expect when the RCG programme is implemented we will see a dramatic improvement in reporting. – Michael Henning
