CUSTOMS PROCESSES
Export partners work to untie knotty strings
An extensive effort under way to curb baneful red tape and border congestion hurting companies has had only mixed results, writes Stephen Timm
With a weak rand and low domestic growth, the government should be doing more to make it easier for local companies to export. But despite recent progress in moving some customs processes online, piles of paperwork and delays at borders and ports are still causing headaches for exporters. The World Bank ranks SA at 139 out of 189 countries for trading across borders, down from 115 in 2013. The bank notes that export-bound goods spend an average of 100 hours at borders – nine times longer than the average Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development member country, while exporters spend an average of 68 hours completing documentation, compared with just three hours for developed countries. The South African Revenue Service (SARS) notes in its 2015-16 report that the implementation of online customs declarations has reduced the processing of 94% of export transactions from 90 minutes in 2006 to an average of 17 minutes. Since June, shipping and trucking companies have been r...
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