Greedy officials hijack overborder agreements

Project cargo specialists underscored the need for regional integration to facilitate the costeffective movement of cargo in Africa at last week’s Breakbulk Africa conference in Cape Town. “At the same time we also have to continue calling for a system of self-regulation if we truly want to improve efficiencies,” said Mark Pearson, programme director for Trademark Southern Africa. He said even where bilateral and regional agreements between governments were in place, more often than not the reason why officials were not enforcing these was because they were making money off truckers by charging them for so-called violations. “So the question is how does one overcome that inter-relationship between improving efficiency and people making money off delaying a vehicle because they claim it has transgressed some sort of regulation? There is no easy answer,” he said. “At the same time the problem is exacerbated as there are different requirements when entering and exiting a country, resulting in major delays at the various border posts. It is therefore essential that countries work together in simplifying their processes and procedures while technology that speaks across borders will make a major difference. Eliminating the human element through technology will also go a long way to reducing delays."