New Saaff chairman sets out objectives for the year

ALAN PEAT
WITH THE SA Association of Freight Forwarders (Saaff) celebrating its first anniversary under its new constitution and membership structure, a new board has just been elected. After what he described as “a hectic year” as chairman, Philip Womersley, chairman of Safcor Panalpina, has handed the reins over to Paul Cheetham, chief operating officer of Micor. The new board has five members who are company MDs, and a further two who are directors of top ten industry companies. What lies ahead? Said Cheetham: “First there will be continued emphasis on developing productive and constructive working relationships with SA Revenue Service (Sars) customs and other government agencies - including health, trade & industry, the National Ports Authority (NPA), Airports Company of SA (Acsa) and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Second in line is participation in the finalisation of the industry’s black economic empowerment (BEE) charter. “In this,” said Cheetham, “we shall be working together with other stakeholders in the effective application of the codes of good practice.” A third challenge is to ensure that the re-write of industry-specific unit standards meets the needs of members, and that a training environment is created which encourages members to use the finances available to them to invest in skills development. “The future for the industry,” Cheetham told FTW, “also includes the re-write of the Customs Act, security issues at airports, the introduction by customs of cargo scanners at ports of entry, and new customs clearance procedures.”