“When we first launched
ACM in May 2011,
I explained that the
introduction of ACM
– and moving towards
a totally paperless
environment – was part of
a journey,” Sars’ Beyers
Theron told FTW.
“For Sars and trade
to get the full benefits
of matching manifests
with declarations, two
things needed to happen
– firstly, our core systems
needed to be sufficiently
improved, which has
already happened to a
large extent, but this is
an ongoing process and
all key stakeholders are
kept constantly updated.
Secondly, the data quality
of manifest submissions
needs to be up to a certain
standard which, after
almost two years, it still
has not reached.
“We have been
engaging with many of
our key clients during
this time to get their
data quality up to speed
and have seen great
success in some areas but
insufficient improvement
in others. For instance,
we have been working
intensively with the road
freight industry over the
past year and a half to get
electronic data submission
up to an acceptable
standard and have seen a
marked improvement in
the speed at which trucks
are moving through the
land borders.
“For the reasons
above, and in the spirit
of co-creation which we
established at the outset
with trade, we have also
decided not to enforce
penalties until such
time as all of the above
elements are in place. We
appeal to trade – including
clearing and forwarding
agents – to work with us
to get their data quality up
to acceptable standards so
that we can all start seeing
the benefits of electronic
manifest submission as
soon as possible.”
CAPTION
Beyers Theron ... not enforcing
penalties.
