Red tape reduction saves a major export deal

An intervention by the
Western Cape’s Red Tape
Reduction Unit has saved
one of the city’s top exporters
a lucrative export deal.
According to Peter Shaw,
general manager of Southern
Spars – a company that
manufactures and exports
carbon-fibre masts, booms
and rigging – a hold-up at
customs would have resulted
in an urgent mast delivery
being delayed for over a
month.
The initial delay was
caused by a query around
the description of the mast.
As a result, the company’s
clearing agent was required
to upload additional
documents.
With customs having
24 hours to examine the
documents and clear the
shipment, Southern Spars
was in real danger of literally
missing the boat.
“The vessel had berthed in
Port Elizabeth and we had
to load the next morning.
Whilst the South African
Revenue Service was still
within its allotted time
period there was a real risk
that the clearance would just
be too late to load onto the
vessel,” said Shaw. “The next
shipment would only be a
month later and we would
then not have made our
deadline to deliver the mast
to our customer.”
He said the company
would have
not only faced
reputational damage if this
had happened, but serious
costs would also have been
incurred as the mast would
have had to be stored until it
could be shipped.
“We alerted the red tape
unit, and within hours the
customs release was issued
and we could load and
deliver as per
schedule.”
According
to Minister
of Economic Development
in the Western Cape,
Alan Winde, the unit is
increasingly proving its
worth.
“Many times the hold-ups
experienced by exporters are
valid and the processes are
not untoward, but through
this unit, all the national
and provincial departments
work together to streamline
the process and ensure that
we are encouraging trade
rather than inhibiting it.”
Winde said a new unit
that had been recently
launched in Johannesburg
had used the Cape Town
unit as a benchmark when it
was being developed.
“There is a need for us to
make it easier to process
low-risk exports and this
unit plays a major role in
ensuring that,” said Winde.
CAPTION
Peter Shaw (left) and Alan Winde.