RES, SARS join efforts to enhance trade efficiencies between SA and Eswatini

By Silindzelwe Nxumalo

The Eswatini Revenue Services (ERS) and South Africa Revenue Services (SARS) Bilateral Time Release Study (TRS) that was launched at Ngwenya Border Gate on Monday promises to enhance trade efficiencies between South Africa and the Kingdom of Eswatini.

SARS Head of Customs Operations, Ports of Entry and Customs and Excise Compliance Beyers Theron said this study had been made possible by the World Customs Organisation (WCO) Mercator Trade Facilitation Programme which aims to support member countries in implementing the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA).

He said that the TRS was a strategic and internationally recognized tool to measure the actual time required to clear goods and complete cross-border formalities, from the time of its first arrival until final release from the border. He stated that this was done to identify process and trade flow bottlenecks and take the necessary remedial measures to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of cross-border processing.

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Theron said the TRS was vital not only to identify the root causes for border delays and to help with the transition of individual and traditional borders into SMART automated and technology-driven borders but also as measurable and data-based precursors for the improvement of entire trade corridors.

He also stated that the study also gives practical effect to the commitments made by Commissioner Generals of SACU Tax and Customs Administrations to drive the trade facilitation agenda amongst SACU member states. “Inextricably linked to the common goal of driving down trade costs and reducing border delays, is the WCO concept of Coordinated Border Management (CBM) which seeks to achieve greater border efficiencies, while maintaining a balance with compliance requirements,” he explained.

He shared that the TRS aimed to mobilize pre-arrival electronic data, resources, functions, processes, agreements, and legislation around a shared vision of effective and efficient border processing, across all regulatory agencies.

He said this would be done so that their respective functions were discharged in a coordinated manner to the benefit of trade and the larger economy. “TRS and the facilitation benefit that it can inform and quantify, also create measurable value for economic operators, are necessary for the sustainability and growth of regional trade corridors, helps to identify, limit, and alleviate the effects of procedural bureaucracy, inefficiencies and costs on legitimate trade, and supports the regional economic benefits envisaged by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (ACTA),” he said.

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WCO Head of the WCO Accelerate Trade Facilities Programme Donia Hammami, represented by Stephen Muller said this study was providing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to not only get customs on board but all stakeholders for effective facilitation reforms.

“This will help to foster the country’s sustainable development through inclusive growth which is trade-led,” he said. He stated that the private sector was very critical for this study as it was here to make it easier for the private sector to trade.

. . . TRS TO ASSIST IN DEVELOPMENT OF NTFC 2024-2026 ROADMAP DEVELOPMENT
The new TRS is set to assist the National Trade Facilitation Committee (NTFC) in developing the NTFC 2024-2026 Roadmap. NTFC Co-chair of the National Trade Facilitation Committee (NTFC) and CEO of Business Eswatini, E. Nathi Dlamini said that the TRS 2023 would be used as a baseline for the period of this roadmap and a TRS conducted in 2025 would help measure progress towards the established target.

Dlamini stated that in September 2023, the NTFC undertook an exercise to develop a new roadmap for 2024 – 2026, which was a high-level plan that described the goals of the trade facilitation reforms, the activities to be undertaken, and the expected results.

He said for this period, there was a set objective, which was to create a competitive trade facilitation environment underpinned by agility, inclusivity, safety, and security of the supply chain, contributing to sustainable economic development and improved standard of living in the Kingdom of Eswatini.

“It is therefore unsurprising that the study we are launching today is critical to the NTFC and it is against this background that I request all the participating border agencies to fully engage so that the results are meaningful and show the areas for improvement in the clearance process, and ultimately trade facilitation,” he said.

He added that customs administrations, as lead-border agencies, played a vital role in expediting the international movement of goods which was why the collaboration between the Eswatini Revenue Service (ERS) and the South African Revenue Service (SARS) was applauded.

He stated that the two revenue services together with relevant Government agencies and the private sector, form the Bilateral TRS, expanding from the respective National TRS. “Their cooperation and commitment are crucial to the success of this initiative. For our part, we affirm our intention to work closely with both revenue services to ensure the smooth implementation of this study,” he said.

Dlamini further shared that Eswatini had undertaken two national Time Release Studies in 2018 and 2021 which was why they now recognize that with this Bilateral TRS 2023, the country was implementing two provisions of the World Trade Organisation’s Trade Facilitation Agreement.

He said this implementation was specifically on Article 7.6 which was the establishment and publication of average release times, as well as Article 12 on Customs to Customs Cooperation and the Customs to Business Cooperation.

He also thanked the World Customs Organisation (WCO) which had been instrumental in getting everyone together and providing the needed wherewithal for this historic and landmark bilateral initiative. “The importance of the presence and support of the WCO consultants cannot be over-emphasized and I firmly believe that through their involvement and engagement, Eswatini will have TRS experts of their own in due course,” he concluded.