Zimbabwe May 2006 |
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| Beitbridge chosen for one-stop project, (Herald, 2006-05-26):-The Southern African Development Community (Sadc) has identified Beitbridge Border Post for a one-stop border post pilot project, while the Common Market for Eastern and Central Africa (Comesa) has identified Chirundu Border Post for a similar trial. In an interview, the chief executive officer of the Shipping and Forwarding Agents’ Association of Zimbabwe (SFAAZ), Mr Joseph Musariri, said timetables had been set but operational logistics were yet to be finalised. Mr Musariri, who was speaking soon after attending a one-day workshop in Beitbridge under the theme "Removing Barriers to Trade Through Improving Operational Procedures", said several meetings between South African and Zimbabwean authorities had been held. He said the two countries’ immigration authorities were awaiting the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) and the South African Revenue Authority (SARS) to harmonise their operations in line with the new developments. "The necessary infrastructure at entry and exit is available and only minimal additions are needed. "Authorities from both countries are still working on modalities to harmonise their operations in line with the new development. The same goes with the situation at Chirundu," said Mr Musariri. He said under the new arrangement, travellers would be cleared just once for passage into either country. At the moment people travelling to South Africa queue for clearance on the Zimbabwean side and go through the same procedure to enter South Africa and vice-versa. "As SFAAZ, we welcome the development as it will go a long way in improving efficiency and decongesting both sides of the border, which are normally congested due to the current order of the day. "This mechanism will see immigration and customs officials, including customs clearing agents from Zimbabwe, working on the South African side, while the South Africans will come here," he said. He said Beitbridge and Chirundu were chosen after members of Comesa and Sadc realised that they are the busiest ports of entry in sub-Saharan Africa. Mr Musariri said under the new arrangement, Beitbridge Border Post would be turned into a dry port authority, where authorities would facilitate the smooth flow of operations as currently most of them are not concentrating on their core business. "Zimra would concentrate on revenue collection and supervising customs laws, while other stakeholders, like the immigration department, the police and customs clearing agents, would follow suit," said Mr Musariri. He said Zimra was currently building a new office block at Beitbridge that would separate private and commercial business. Mr Musariri said the one-stop border post concept would be advantageous especially for the customs and clearing agents who have been duplicating the customs procedures on both sides of the border, thereby taking too much time and causing inconvenience. However, the customs sector is eager to have the one stop border in place as the processing of travel documents would be much quicker and visitors would, as a result, come in more frequently and in numbers. Of late, many visitors are resorting to using the Plumtree border post because of congestion at Beitbridge. Speaking about his presentation in the workshop organised by Zimra and other stakeholders who operate at the border, he said all stakeholders present had agreed on improving working relationships so as to avoid unnecessary delays. "All stakeholders have agreed to unite so as to remove all obstacles frustrating trade between most Sadc countries," he said. The workshop was also attended by Mr Peddy Leen, the chief executive officer of the Transport Operators’ Association, and various stakeholders, but the media was excluded from the deliberations. | |
South African Migration Project (SAMP) - Queen's University - http://www.queensu.ca/samp |