Agents seek ZIMRA consultations on upgrades

Agents seek ZIMRA consultations on upgrades
Published: 22 June 2018
THE International Freight Forwarders Association of Zimbabwe (IFFAZIM) says the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) should consult stakeholders in the freight and clearing sector before making changes in its operational systems to allow them time to prepare and adjust.

IFFAZIM president Patrick Gwasera said this after ZIMRA announced its migration to version 4.3.2 of the Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA) World - the latest version - at a clearing agents' breakfast meeting.

Gwasera told The Financial Gazette that while the new system seemed better than the old version, clearing agents who will be using it had not been engaged prior to its implementation.

"We were not engaged properly. It was shoved down our throats, but we have to toe the line now, although we are very appreciative of the programme. We are looking forward to it, but it's also very important for them to engage their partners when they are planning to forge ahead.

"Their programmes just come. Yes, they could have a very good programme, but the other side is not prepared yet we are the very important working partners for ZIMRA. So it is very important that they engage us in whatever they will be doing so that whatever programme they want to implement comes out right," Gwasera said.

ZIMRA acting commissioner for customs and excise Adrian Swarres said the previous system had caused challenges which resulted in slow registration and processing of declarations. This saw the revenue authority resorting to manual interventions.

"The manual interventions, in the midst of very large volumes of transactions, would render processes cumbersome and difficult to administer. I am glad we are now back on track and the new system is faster and more effective and is poised to improve even more as we continue with upgrades in other phases of the software," Swarres said.

ASYCUDA World is designed to improve customs functions in a number of ways such as trade facilitation through faster clearance of goods at ports of entry, enhanced system controls, intelligent electronic risk management system that is updated periodically, easy compilation of trade statistics, interfacing with other government and international organisations, automation of most customs processes, use of non-intrusive search and transit monitoring methods and easy navigation of the system on the website.

The system enables clients to submit their customs documents to ZIMRA from anywhere in the world provided that one is registered with the authority and there is internet connectivity at the place from which they would be transacting.

It also allows for pre-clearance of goods, meaning that importers can clear their goods before arrival at the port of entry.

The new version of the system has been operational for about two months and according to the clearing agents it has not suffered the same problems as its predecessor which crashed in December causing huge delays in cargo clearance.

- fingaz
Tags: Zimra,

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