Article
encouraging local clearance to cut down border delays raises a storm of protest from agents
Dear Editor
I write as chairman of the committee of the Beitbridge chapter of the South African Association of Freight Forwarders (SAAFF) to express our dismay at the misinformation conveyed in the article Local clearance will cut down border delays (FTW January 8/15, 1999)
Your correspondent Leonard Neill has not spoken to any of our members to test the veracity of the statements ascribed to Mr van Niekerk in the article. To advise transporters that they can cut down the waiting time from as much as two days....to one or two hours' at Beitbridge is mischievous, to say the least.
The reputable transporters who use this route have long known that pre-cleared loads move more quickly through the system. However, no preference is given to trucks with pre-clearances. The professional clearing agencies will aver that, in their hands, trucks with correct documentation, whether pre-cleared or not, will not stand for longer than four hours.
Any agency which delays a truck for two days, and the transporter chooses them, will not stay long in business. The documents still have to be presented to customs, with the manifest and truck documents, by a licensed clearing agent, at the commercial office.
The inference that a driver with a fist full of pre-cleared documents will be 'given the green light at the border', is absolutely wrong. Some of the transporters have gone to the extent of licensing their Beitbridge office, in order to be able to present their own truck documents. Others choose to ally themselves to a favourite agency. Neither gets preferential treatment from customs.
We intend, by copy of this letter, to request Mr Edward Little, executive director of SAAFF, to approach Mr van Niekerk, to set the record straight. We feel certain that, had Mr van Niekerk conferred with the NIDS representative for customs affairs, Mr Mattie Lourens, who has been to this control and spoken to our representatives, Mr Lourens would never have
agreed to the statements made.
We would hope that before NIDS implements any move toward changing any border documentation, SAAFF would be consulted. Mr Little has not mentioned any such consultation to us.
While we cannot speak for any other border posts, we are pleased to report that this one, on
the customs side, under the control of Mr Ishmael Phalandwa, the controller, has a reputation for efficiency and proper implementation of customs controls for freight handled by the members of our association.
Brian Kalshoven,
Chairman,
Beitbridge Association of
Freight Forwarders.
