Fruit industry awaits outcome of Sars deliverations

Western Cape fruit exporters remain in limbo as South African Revenue Service (Sars) officials consider the implications of new customs legislation that will impact significantly on their operations. According to a spokesman for the Cape Port Liaison Forum (PLF), meetings between the fruit industry and Sars have taken place and the matter is being deliberated at top level. “We are hoping to find a solution to the problem. Currently packhouses pack containers over a period of time, send them off to the stack over several days, and then pass one bill of entry covering all of this. The new legislation will require a bill of entry for each container before it reaches the export stack and so if you have 60 containers that will mean 60 bills of entry,” said the spokesman. “At the same time the entries have to be declared before the container reaches the stack – and taking into account that fruit is often packed in the middle of the night, some of the requirements in the legislation are just not possible.” He said Sars officials were very understanding about the situation and all efforts were being made to see how the new customs acts could address this. No definite solutions have yet been found although it is believed officials from Pretoria have been to the Western Cape in an effort to get a clearer understanding of the process.