Sars treads a fine line between security compliance and trade facilitation

JOY ORLEK
KEEPING THE balance between trade facilitation on the one hand and economic security on the other is a key challenge facing SA Revenue Service in the years ahead. “We are under immense pressure from the US,” Sars Commissioner Pravin Gordhan told a gathering of SA Association of Freight Forwarders members in Johannesburg last week. “In the US congress a few weeks ago there was a strong lobby that every container moving into the US be examined at the port of departure. There’s a constituency within the US congress that believes that is the only way they will be able to secure their ports. “Imagine the impact on our side if we are trying to facilitate trade and exports for Agoa. Imagine the kind of certification that would be required. And we are looking not only at SA exports but southern Africa’s exports as well.” It illustrates the need for a proactive approach, in Gordhan’s view. “It’s clear that international trade is growing - the question is what are the logistical capabilities we need to develop to facilitate trade.” He points to a growing awareness among the customs community that their work does not lie only at the border posts. “There needs to be a wider understanding of the supply chain. The interaction with business needs to happen long before goods leave the country or the border post. It’s not about operating as an isolated agency, but in connecting with organisations like Saaff so that the 24-hour rule for example can be implemented not only in our own country but elsewhere. “We have to develop the capability to do accurate risk profiling so that every container does not have to be stopped.” While this is partly about enforcement, it’s also about building the right partnerships not only in South Africa but in countries with which South Africa trades.