High security seal strikes a chord for a unified trade bloc

THE TEST of the high-security container seal - intended to reduce the need for border post inspections of transit cargoes to the northern neighbour states - is still underway.
And the customs - who would be the appliers of such a seal after a pre-inspection of the container cargo in question - are playing their part.
It certainly has a theoretical benefit, according to transport consultant, Roger Smith, one of the advisers to the Southern African Transport and Telecommunications Commission - Technical Unit (SATTC - TU) . Main-line border posts - like Beitbridge - are classified as major delay factors in cross-border traffic flow, he said, as they arduously search a large proportion of the cargo vehicles passing through. If there was some sort of guarantee that the cargo was as-should-be, then some of this inspection delay could be relieved.
But pre-inspection at the port of entry is not that frequently in demand, according to Edward Little, executive director of SAAFF (SA Association of Freight Forwarders). It takes time - two-to-three days notice to customs - to get this organised, he said. With this, it's more of a once-in-a-while event than an everyday occurrence.
Smith agrees, and adds another problem. Durban customs told us that very few seals could be applied because of the large number of containers which have their loads changed on the Reef as another part of the consolidation process, he said.
But the in-bond, straight-through containers were the right type of candidates to test the seal on, and Durban - at the start of this direct transit - a logical place to attach some of the seals on their test-run.
Durban customs were quite happy to help out the test, and 10 seals were handed over for attachment to the first 10 containers due for the direct run, and on the pre-inspection list.
The test team meanwhile, had been out with its seals to the SA customs at Beitbridge, and doing a bit of attitude fine-tuning along the way.
We had to see how the customs would regard these high-security seals, said Smith. We arranged with SA customs at the border post that - when they examined a container - it would be high-security sealed.
Then, going through the Zimbabwean customs, they could check the details of the seal - recognising it as a sort of customs-to-customs promise - and expedite the movement of that consignment.
Meantime, SA, Zimbabwe and Zambian authorities had all been keenly watching these test cases. They were monitoring the high-security seal isssue in practice, said Smith. With the Zambians coming in because the strict time limit on transit vehicles through Zimbabwe acts as a time barrier for anyone wanting to go to the trouble of cutting off the container doors at the hinges, and re-welding them neatly into place after stealing the cargo.
This means that the seals have that customs-to-customs promise more-or-less still attached when they get to the Zambian border posts.
It's all part of the free trade mentality that is being encouraged as a philosophy for the eventual unified trade bloc that is being nurtured in the SADC (Southern African Development Community).
The next step in the high-security seal issue is up to the SATTC-TU. The question is, do we go into a Phase 2 of the test, or do we even need one? asked Smith. If the overall perception is favourable, it could even lead directly to a bi-lateral - or tri-lateral - agreement on these.
The next SATTC-TU meeting is due for March. The answer could come up then.