A TRICK from the book of the British Customs - eleven of whose officers are seconded to SA at present - might help to cut down on one of the problem areas faced by Customs.
In their successful visit to this country, one of the areas British officials have advised on is fraudulent minimisation of values declared for Customs purposes. (R500 TVs being declared at R50 each is the sort of level at which this operates, according to FTW sources) To combat this, Customs' parent body, the SARS (SA Revenue Services), is calling for co-operation from the banks.
The UK practice is to issue a list of Minimum Values.
The SARS is to do the same, according to chief executive, Piet Liebenberg, and will compile, and then distribute, our own, local Book of Minimum Values. With this, he feels, the banks will have a guideline when approving foreign exchange amounts - and a barrier will be put in the way of under-declaring below list-value to Customs.
Only one stamped bill of entry, and one original invoice, will be applicable to these transactions.
The creation of these minimum values is likely to start with the most-sensitive categories of goods - the computer goods, cell-phones, TV and VCR product ranges come to mind - according to Edward Little, executive director of SAAFF (SA Association of Freight Forwarders). It will eventually apply to ALL goods, we are led to understand, he said.
