Truks pile up as single window system fails

Importers, exporters and over-border operators are at their wits’ end about delays in transit – particularly on the Mozambique-Malawi route – as a result of Mozambique’s implementation of a National Single Window system. The system is designed to speed up the process but is having quite the opposite effect, according to industry insiders. “We are currently doing everything possible as transporters to work with a very problematic system and avoid passing on the costs to clients – but unless we are blessed with a miracle, it may become a reality that three days’ chargeable standing time becomes the norm,” John Wheadon, managing director of Falcongate Logistics, told FTW. He said the company was working with other clearing and forwarding agents to check their transit times on the Mozambique- Malawi route before making a decision about additional charges. There are several reasons for the delays – from agents’ transit bonds not being cleared to problems with acquittals that take time to resolve or drivers who arrive with their ‘contra marca’ numbers and are told that they are not on the system. “This despite the fact that the document handed to the drivers for their numbers is printed on the same system,” said Wheadon. One operator told FTW that the contra marca number “is always a problem as it is either not captured or not cleared”. He commented: “We had an incident recently where we waited for four full days for clearance at the Frigo border post. Eventually, we offloaded the unit and returned at a later stage to pick it up. Fortunately the cargo was a mobile crane and we had the option of driving it off our trailer.” A regional branch manager for a transport operator told FTW that he too had experienced delays at Frigo. “The clearing agents and customs are extremely slow and, on a good day, vehicles will stand for more than 48 hours before being cleared,” he said. Meanwhile, the Single Window system has been flagged in a formal complaint on the TradeBarriers.org website by several shippers – including ZamBeef; Zimbabwe German Graphite; Samrec Vermiculite, Zimbabwe Alloys and Unicef – requesting Southern African Development Community (SADC) secretariat intervention on a “situation which has seriously affected clearance of goods at the following border posts and ports: Machipanda, Nyampanda, Mwanza and Beira port.” The complaint states: “Vessels are going back empty as the cargo (exports) cannot be loaded before clearance is done – most minerals from Zambia and Zimbabwe and tobacco from Malawi have been affected. These countries stand to lose millions of dollars on these shipments currently stuck in Mozambique.” The five-page complaint notes that the single window concept relies on networks for connectivity and when the network is down, “trucks pile up for days before any sort of solution is found”. The transit delay issue was addressed by operators and government representatives at the Malawi/Mozambique Bilateral Road Transport meeting held in Blantyre, Malawi earlier this month. INSERT & CAPTION Unless we are blessed with a miracle, it may become a reality that three days’ chargeable standing time becomes the norm. – John Wheadon CAPTION Delays at the Mwanza border post could result in additional charges for the importer/exporter. Photo: Flickr