SA on track to meet paperless deadline target

A major global airfreight body has turned up the pressure to achieve a paperless target by the 2015 deadline – a target which SA is already well on the way to meeting, according to Alwyn Rautenbach, MD of Airlink Cargo and vicechairman of the Air Cargo Operators’ Committee (Acoc). The Global Air Cargo Advisory Group (Gacag) – which represents freight forwarders, shippers, carriers and policymakers – has laid out a ‘roadmap’ for reaching its goal, comprising a three-part scheme to try to ensure complete success. To achieve 100% electronic air waybill (e-AWB) capability, said Gacag, the industry first needs to persuade governments and regulators that all routes are capable of operating on an e-freight basis – including suitable customs processes. Next it will be necessary to digitise all airway bills and then any other documents by collaborating with all stakeholders in the supply chain. Finally there’s a the need to formulate a plan to digitise the commercial and special cargo documents typically accompanying airfreight today, in or outside of the ‘cargo pouch’, an item which ideally the Gacag members would prefer to see scrapped. The whole concept is a “brilliant idea”, according to Rautenbach, because it cuts out a lot of the hold-ups in the airfreight industry. “Also,” he added, “working with paperwork is very cumbersome, and suffers from the human factor of inaccuracy. “But SA Revenue Service (Sars) customs has already achieved a lot towards electronic data interchange (EDI) so far, and I reckon that they will be ready to go by the 2015 deadline.” The global airline community is also well prepared for purely electronic communication with the rest of the airfreight sector. Rautenbach is confident that the main trading nations and SA will be on the button, and that even some other African nations, like Mozambique, have also gone far along the path towards e-AWB capability. “The cargo handlers and the airlines are all very much in favour of this paperless regime. It speeds up the supply chain and saves the airfreight industry lots of time and money,” he told FTW. CAPTION No more documents ... 2015 is the target for e-waybill capability.