Pending SAD roll-out heralds happy new era

SARS draws up timetable for implementation ALAN PEAT AFTER A pilot scheme for the last year on the trans-Kalahari highway, the single administration document (SAD) – eventually due to replace the CCA1 as the only cross-border transport document in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) – is due to move out to other border posts in the next few months. According to Thel Ruiters of SA Revenue Service (SARS) customs, deadlines are currently being drawn up for this roll-out, and are due to be communicated to stakeholders as they are finalised. Part of the drive towards a single document for the SADC, the three Southern African Customs Union (SACU) countries of SA, Botswana and Namibia on the trans-Kalahari route were chosen as the test run, according to Barney Curtis, the Road Freight Association (RFA) specialist on cross-border affairs. “After a number of months where the two documents ran parallel,” he told FTW, “ONLY the SAD has been allowed on this route since February this year.” It’s also part of the move to have customs clearance through border posts done electronically – and to see transporters and agents become accredited. The SAD is a more complex document than the previous CCA1, according to Curtis. “In its present form on the trans-Kalahari route,” he said, “it must accommodate the customs requirements of all three countries. “It also has to be suitable to be eventually rolled-out over the whole of the southern African area, and this adds to its complexity.” But, he added, it is easier to complete the document electronically – and this acts as an encouragement for transporters and agents to go electronic, and to become accredited.