Revenue Service Customs division of the registration, licensing and accreditation (RLA) phase of the New Customs Act Programme (NCAP), the revenue authority is set to begin its Customs Sufficient Knowledge (CSK) testing protocol.
“We’re aiming to open CSK in May which will give the industry 9-10 months to complete the testing before RLA is introduced in 2019,” said Sars executive – Customs & Excise Centre of Excellence, Beyers Theron. The initial focus will be on road modality role players.
While initial reports of the CSK requirement sparked industry unease, Theron has stressed that there is no reason for concern.
“It’s not a test to catch you out. It’s an open book test that merely establishes whether you understand the new legislation. In a pilot programme eight people were tested and all passed, one with 96%. The pass rate is 60%.
“What we are doing is creating a mechanism that sets a standard in the industry and hopefully weeds out the fly-by-nights.
“The idea is to have at least one competent person per applicable client type who would take the test – and every CSK-impacted company must have at least one competent person. But because of staff turnover, companies can choose to have as many accredited staff as they wish. In the first phase, because of the number of people to be tested, Sars has restricted each company to a maximum of two.”
If a candidate fails, he can rewrite – and each test will be set around the client type. Clearing agents should however know the full legislation because they serve their client base across the whole spectrum.
There is no cost involved for the test, which takes around two hours to complete.
It applies only to licensees and some registrants. Importers and exporters are not required to be CSK-accredited – but it is in their interests to put pressure on the companies they use to be qualified. CSK is valid for three years.
