Single road bond for SADC gains momentum

160 companies have signed up Alan Peat ONLY A year after the original proposal, the SA trucking industry now has 160 companies with a single road bond for all the Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries, according to Mike Alistoun of the Road Freight Association (RFA). This follows the announcement last March that SA would become the forerunner in introducing the single bond for SA road transporters in the region. Effectively this meant that local truckers were covered by their bond lodged with SA customs for any duty or tax indiscretions in the other member countries of the SADC. It was the result of negotiations between the RFA and SA Revenue Services (SARS) where the association pressed for the idea of the single bond contained in the SADC protocol of agreement to be instituted by the SA authorities. The idea of the single bond, according to Alistoun, was part of an attempt to clean up the trade in the area. “The threat of withdrawal of accreditation for any major misdemeanours in the other countries of the SADC helps that along,” he said. And the fact that the 160 names on the list compiled by the RFA have all been investigated, and cleared, by the Scorpions - a top police unit specialising in business cases - should guarantee fair play by all the transporters. “If anybody falls foul of the law after having been cleared by the Scorpions,” said Alistoun, “they can expect to fall hard.” And the RFA is very much in favour of the scheme and its method of implementation, he added. “At last it institutes some control in the region.”