On 15 July the South African Revenue Service (SARS) released a letter to the trade in which it says that as a result of the current industrial action, temporary measures have been instituted in relation to the authorisation and authentication of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Certificates of Origin (CoO) for cargo exported from South Africa.
The letter by the Director Customs Border Operations, Ports of Entry and Customs Compliance reads:
As a result of the current industrial action at SARS, we would like to inform you of temporary measures instituted in relation to the authorisation and authentication of SADC certificates of origin for cargo exported from South Africa.
Traders who are currently unable to process their SADC certificates at land borders can submit them for authentication and approval at their local (origin) customs district office.
Alternatively, traders can elect to exports goods and pay the general rate of duties at an importing country in relation to the goods. In such cases, SARS will issue retrospective SADC certificates to be submitted at an importing country to enable importers to claim refunds at a later stage.
SARS apologises for the inconvenience caused and appreciate the assistance of trade in this regard.