New building complete
JOY ORLEK
ZIMBABWE CUSTOMS has taken a major step in the right direction at the Beit Bridge Border post where trucks at the SA border can now lodge their entries and have them processed before they proceed across the border.
“It’s the closest we’ve ever come to preclearance,” says Brian Kalshoven of Beitbridge Border Clearing Agency, who says the system has done a lot to streamline procedures.
It all came to a head a few months ago when serious congestion on the Zimbabwe side of the border demanded decisive action.
“The two customs regimes have been talking to each other, which is a major step forward, and work is progressing on Zimbabwe’s new truck park.
“But it’s still far from complete,” says Kalshoven.
“Now we don’t allow trucks to cross over to the Zimbabwe side until the documentation has been processed which means there are no delays once they’ve moved across the border.”
And at the moment things are running very smoothly, in his view.
A further development on the SA side has been the completion of the new Customs building, but this still needs to be commissioned and no date has yet been set.
And while the question of access to customs by agents is still unresolved, the latest idea is that the Rennies Building, in which BBCA is based, will be fenced back into the controlled area as it was originally. “We and all of our visitors and clients will have to clear in with Customs and out again to leave,” Kalshoven told FTW.
