SARS goes paperless

The SA Revenue Service has introduced a new customs management system of clearing all imports and exports declarations using a single processing engine.

SARS replaced the old paper-based system on Saturday .

By managing customs declarations and supporting documents electronically, the processing of cargo movements will be much quicker and more accurate.

In the current fiscal year, more than 4.3 million containers moved in and out of South Africa, representing R2.5-trillion worth of trade.

This could have amounted to as many as 40 million pieces of paper for customs officials.

However, with the new system, which costR350-million, information is captured into a central facility.

The facility conducts a risk assessment, determining which container must be stopped and inspected and whether the inspection means offloading the goods or just opening the container to see if the goods match the documentation.

The information is then passed on to the authorities.

Physical inspections are completed in an average of two hours as scanners are used to reveal the contents of containers.

With the old system, these inspections took up to eight hours to complete.

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said the new system also enabled customs officials to quickly pick up illicit goods and prevent illegal claims.

"We will be protecting South African business in ensuring that they are not subjected to inappropriate competition and undermining of their businesses through illegality.

"We will get better trade statistics and get them more quickly," he said.