Closer co-operation
between the associations
representing clearing
agents in Zambia and
the country’s customs authority
(ZRA) may help prevent extended
delays caused by
systems failures
when upgrades and
enhancements are
introduced.
According to
Eston Sakala, board
secretary of the
Zambia Customs
and Forwarding
Agents Association
(ZCFAA), the
authorities have
agreed to pilot the
next phase of the
Asycuda World
introduction with
ZCFAA members.
The latest addition to the
system will allow Zambian agents
and shippers to self-assess their
declarations.
“This will reduce border delays
on the Zambian side as cargo will
be cleared almost
immediately,” he
says.
That is “unless
the system red
flags a shipment
that may be of
interest to the
authorities and
subject to further
verification or
inspections”.
However, past
experience has shown that there
are usually teething problems with
the introduction of a new Asycuda
module – hence the agreement with
ZRA to pilot the module before it
goes live for all clearing agents.
There are around 700 registered
clearing agents in Zambia, ZCFAA
members accounting for between
75 and 90% collection of customs
revenue, according to Sakala.
In addition to the instability
following the
addition of new
modules, the
industry faces
challenges with
daily power outages
and a lack of reliable
and affordable
bandwidth – which
is needed because
Asycuda is a cloudbased
system.
Electronic
messages are being
delayed because
servers are down
at different times
across the country.
This leads to communication
problems with the Asycuda system
as the ZRA server is at times offline
when the clearing agent’s is up, or
vice-versa.
While all of the bigger agents
will have standby
power, the
problem is
that there is
not always the
necessary backup
throughout the
system, he says.
“In industry
stakeholder
meetings ZRA has
confirmed that
funding has been
secured to upgrade the current vsat
link in all major stations as a backup.
“This will assist in alleviating
complete connection disruptions
even though slower than the main
links when up,” he says.
INSERT & CAPTION
The latest addition to the
system will allow Zambian
agents and shippers to selfassess
their declarations.
– Eston Sakala
Speeding up customs clearance
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