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SACU now a liability – telling it as it is
Windhoek: The century-old five-member Southern African Customs Union is a stumbling block to the region’s economic integration agenda and has become a liability whose continued existence is no longer...
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SAD story – Part 1
We all suffer a little nostalgia at one or other point in our lives. Those die-hard legacy officials – the kind who have more than 20 years service – will most definitely have suffered, recoiled, and...
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Record Freight Traffic for Walvis Bay Corridors
Volumes along all the Walvis Bay Corridors have hit a record high of more than 63,000 tonnes for the month of January 2012, reports Namib Times. The report describes this as a significant growth of...
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SAD Story – Part 3
Having considered that commonality and harmonisation in Customs lies more in data and less in format, it is nevertheless still important to consider the state and readiness of all customs...
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WCO/SACU – IT Connectivity and Data Exchange
On the occasion of International Customs Day, in January earlier this year, the World Customs Organisation dedicated 2012 as the year “Connectivity”, which encapsulates people connectivity,...
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South Africa – Stalling Regional Integration
Yes, you’ll be forgiven if you thought this was some belated April-fools joke. South Africa has been accused of frustrating plans to create a regional customs union and instead preferring to bolster...
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Regional Blocs seek to remove Trade Barriers
THREE regional economic communities (Recs) have taken the lead as Africa seeks to remove trade barriers by 2017. The establishment of a Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) was endorsed by African Union...
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Swaziland accedes to the WCO RKC
Swaziland accedes to WCO RKC The Ambassador of the Kingdom of Swaziland, H.E. Joel Nhleko, deposited his country’s instrument of accession to the International Convention on the Simplification and...
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Building hard and soft infrastructure to minimise regional costs
I post this article given it ties together many of the initiatives which I have described in previous articles. The appears to be an urgency to implement these initiatives, but the real question...
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NRA/BURS – Customs Connectivity Passes Test
The first live demonstration of an end-to-end customs connectivity solution was successfully completed in Windhoek, Namibia on December 12, 2012. Customs Connectivity enables customs administrations...
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AU considers continental Customs Connectivity
The African Union (AU) Technical Working Group on Interconnectivity has developed a ‘draft’ Strategy and Roadmap for Customs-2-Customs IT Connectivity on the continent. This strategy will effectively...
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Botswana Tightens Car Exports to Namibia
The New Era (Windhoek) reports that Botswana has tightened the screws on the importation of second-hand vehicle older than five years, effectively removing the loophole exploited by Namibian motorists...
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Namibia – Weak Rand Plays Havoc With Trade Balance
The continued weakening of the Rand and an increase in the volume of imports has seen Namibia’s trade deficit widen to N$17 billion, the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) has said. The country’s import...
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Enforcement, Risk Management and Preferred Trade come together in the SACU...
Enforcement, Risk Management and Preferred Trade come together in the SACU Region A WCO workshop on the topics of Enforcement, Risk Management and Preferred Trader was conducted in April in...
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WCO/SACU Regional IT Connectivity Conference 2013
Delegates attending the WCO/SACU IT Connectivity Conference – May 2013 Representatives of the SACU member states recently met in Johannesburg to progress developments concerning IT Connectivity and...
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SACU’s Choice –‘Common policy or irrelevance’
The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies briefed the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry regarding the progress on the implementation of the five-point plan in Cape Town....
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SACU in danger of collapse
Rob Davies Frustrated with lack of progress (Business Day) Trade & industry minister Rob Davies did not mince his words when he briefed parliament late last month on the Southern African Customs...
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Namibia – South Africa Remains Major Trading Partner
South Africa remained Namibia’s leading trading partner, particularly on the imports front during the second quarter of 2013. South Africa accounted for 70,1% of Namibia’s imports, followed by the Euro...
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SACU prepares for launch of regional preferred trader scheme
The Southern African Customs Union (SACU) consisting of Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland collaborates with the World Customs Organization (WCO) in a trade facilitation initiative...
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Africa’s first regional Customs – Trade Forum
On the 8th of November 2013 in Maseru, Lesotho, the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) launched the first regional Customs - Trade Forum in Africa. The theme of the historical event was “Government...
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