Sars gives assurance that stamped document is no longer necessary

THERE HAS been considerable
concern in the freight
industry recently that too
many licensing bureaux,
municipalities and other
authorities around the country
are still “living in the old
manual world” and insisting
on getting a customs-stamped
SAD 500 (single administrative
document) as proof of cargo
release.
This, FTW was told, is a
hangover from the previous
system where a customsstamped
combination of the
DA 500 document and a
CCA 1 form were required
along with the bill of
entry (BoE) for clearance
purposes. But the DA range
of documents and the CCA 1
were superseded on October
1, 2006 by the SAD forms.
Also, as far back as 2002,
when customs moved into
electronic data interchange
(EDI) for cargo clearances,
a new clearance document
came into being – doing away
with the need for a stamped
original of the DA 500 or its
replacement, the SAD 500.
Part of this trade
facilitation enhancement
meant that the declaration
(SAD 500) would no longer
be stamped by customs, said
the SA Revenue Service (Sars),
and its clients would receive
an electronically-produced
“release notification”.
However, according to
Beyers Theron, head of Sars’
customs operations unit, the
authorities quickly reacted to
the freight industry’s concerns.
“At a meeting with
industry representatives, he
said, “this administration
was informed that (certain
authorities) were still insisting
upon the SAD 500 being
stamped by customs, and
that the “release notification”
– generated by the system
and endorsed by the customs
office – was not being
recognised as the document
on which the consignment
had been released.”
But, Theron informed
FTW, the release notification
conveyed both the release
decision by customs, and
also the final number and
date allocated to a specific
declaration.
And this, he added, has
been communicated to the
offices of authorities (“our
external stakeholders”) around
the country.
“They were informed
that, upon production of an
endorsed “release notification”,
it is to be accepted as a
customs-processed document
which conveys the same
intention as previously
conveyed by way of this
administration’s DA 500 or its
replacement, the SAD 500.”