Moves to develop a regional stakeholder engagement strategy for the SA Customs Union regional preferred trader programme (PTP) are gaining momentum.
The World Customs Organisation secretariat met 17 regional experts from Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland last week to identify key issues impacting the implementation of the regional PTP as well as define focused objectives for the stakeholder engagement strategy.
The strategy has prioritised the need to engage other governmental agencies on the application of PTP benefits, to sensitise officers working at the borders on the PTP, and to enhance marketing efforts of the regional PTP at national and regional levels.
The developed strategy includes monitoring and evaluation which is expected to be implemented from January 2018 to December 2020. “It is hoped that its operationalisation will facilitate the roll-out and growth of the regional PTP during that period,” a WCO spokesman said.
