On 07 June 2011 Sars released a letter titled “Procedure For Submission Of Supporting Documents” The letter reads: This weekend Sars will introduce a new inspection process that will enable traders to submit supporting documents electronically. Kindly note the procedures to be followed when submitting supporting documents as of 11 June 2011. If an import or export declaration is selected by the Sars system for supporting documents, stakeholders will receive a status code 13 electronic response message from Sars Customs. Upon receiving such a message, users should observe the following: o For offices that are enabled to receive electronic supporting documents, i.e. Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg and ORTIA branch offices, the status response (CUSRES 13) message will contain the following text message: “PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS ELECTRONICALLY” o This implies that brokers, importers or exporters can utilise the Sars e@syScan software facility, if provided for by your service provider. o Traders who do not have access to such a facility, must hand-deliver the supporting documents to these enabled branches where they will be manually scanned for further processing. Furthermore, it should be noted that all these (CUSRES) messages will have case numbers included which must be utilised when submitting the electronic supporting documents and referenced for any other correspondence. o For offices that are not yet enabled to receive electronic supporting documents, i.e. all other Customs branch offices: o The status response (CUSRES 13) message will contain the following text message: “PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS MANUALLY” o This implies that brokers, importers, or exporters must hand-deliver the required documentation to the non-enabled branch office for further processing. You will be notified as the remaining branches become enabled to receive electronic supporting documents. A further communiqué will be sent out this week detailing the implementation timelines for this weekend. Thank you for partnering with us on this journey of modernising our Customs systems and processes.