Stakeholders work on Maputo delays

MINIMISING DELAYS at the Maputo border post was high on the agenda at a workshop attended by 100 stakeholders in Malelane recently. Organised by the Maputo Corridor Logistics Initiative (MCLI), delegates came up with several proposals, according to MCLI CEO Brenda Horne. “The need to harmonise the timetable for border posts and terminals in both countries, speed up the establishment of a one stop border, and extend commercial cargo border functioning to 24 hours a day were some of the issues on the agenda,” Horne told FTW. And border timetables are a complex problem, as she explained. “For exports to South Africa and imports from South Africa, customs clearance takes place at the International Road Terminal (Tiro), which is around 90 kms from the Ressano Garcia border post, a minimum of 1.5 hours driving time. “Cargo documents must first be presented at Tiro, which operates from 07:30 to 15:30, with last documents accepted at 15:00 for completion before 15:30. “This means that a truck leaving Ressano Garcia for Mozambique after 14:00 on week days and 11:30 on Saturdays will be forced to stay overnight for clearance the next morning, incurring high storage costs as well as driver over-time.” These are the issues which the workshop will continue to address, she added.