South African Revenue Service (Sars)
has identified the security of the
supply chain as the next crucial step
on the customs journey, with the
authorised economic operator (AEO)
or ‘preferred trader’
playing a key role.
Chief operations
officer at Sars,
Barry Hore, told
delegates at the SA
Association of Freight
Forwarders (Saaff)
annual congress last
week that trusted
or preferred trader
programmes had
been proven globally
to greatly reduce
risk. “Following the
visit by a European
Union delegation on the third leg of
an SA/EU AEO capacity building
programme in September last year,
the Sars preferred trader programme
was recognised as amongst the best
in the world, having met all the
required international standards and
can be regarded as AEO compliant,”
he said.
National head at Sars, Mohammed
Ally, said milestones achieved to
date included the publication of
legislation to enable implementation
of the programme
and the founding
of a Customs
Accreditation Review
Committee (CARC)
whose members will
approve the preferred
trader status. “The
first two batches of
clients have, to date,
been submitted to the
CARC for approval
and I’m happy to say
that the submissions
are increasing,” he
said. The revenue
authority will be ready to pilot its
AEO programme in early 2014 to
assist importers and exporters and
it will eventually be expanded to
include agents and operators, said
Ally.
INSERT & CAPTION
Sars preferred trader
programme has
been recognised as
amongst the best in
the world.
– Barry Hore
