USAID-WCO TRADE FACILITATION CONFERENCE SEPTEMBER2012 JOHANNESBURG

Transcription

1 USAID-WCO TRADE FACILITATION CONFERENCE SEPTEMBER2012 JOHANNESBURG Member States: Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, and Swaziland

2 STRUCTURE OF PRESENTATION BACKGROUND TO SACU HISTORY AND EVOLUTION RECENT DEVELOPMENTS PRIORITY WORK AREAS TRADE FACILITATION PROGRAMME CUSTOMS CONNECTIVITY PROGRAMME

3 BACKGROUND SACU has membership of 5 countries Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland SACU is an established Customs Union with relatively free movement of goods and a CET Four of the members in a monetary integration arrangement through the Common Monetary Area (CMA) Population of approx. 55 million people & GDP of around R1.2 trillion; approx 75% of SADC GDP

4 BACKGROUND Average per capita of R20 000; ranging from R3700 to R Common Revenue Pool, which is composed of customs and excise duties Customs and excise duties are collected and shared according to an agreed RSF

5 HISTORY AND EVOLUTION Can be traced back to 1910 customs arrangement existed between the Union of South Africa and the 3 British protectorates CET of 15%; fixed percentage shares for revenue distribution(ratio of 98.7%: 1.3%) 1969 agreement concluded after the independence of BLS Element of compensation; absence of democratic decision making; tariff used for protection and development of industries

6 HISTORY AND EVOLUTION 2002 Agreement, which came into force in 2004, brought important changes to relations among the SACU members: Creation of effective democratic institutions, incl. dispute settlement The adoption of common industrial policy, cooperation on agric and competition policies New approach to revenue distribution Gave content to idea of a single integrated market and a single negotiating entity in international negotiations 2002 represents a radical break with the past by putting in place a framework agreement that introduces a rulesbased dispensation for the management of CU

7 RECENT DEVELOPMENTS SACU Heads of State and Government met to celebrate centenary in April 2010 A new Vision was adopted To be an economic community with equitable and sustainable development, dedicated to the welfare of its people for a common future SACU Summit to be an institution and a new five area work programme prioritised

8 PRIORITY WORK AREAS Regional industrial development policy Review of the Revenue Sharing Arrangement Trade facilitation Development of SACU institutions Unified engagement in trade negotiations Regional industrialisation is the overarching priority.

9 TRADE FACILITATION-CUSTOMS In March 2011, Summit endorsed a regional trade facilitation programme focussing on: i. Information Technology (IT) Interconnectivity; ii. Stronger Enforcement; iii. Improved Border Efficiencies; iv. Partnerships with Traders; v. The development of similar Customs Legislation; & vi. The establishment of One Stop Border Posts

10 TRADE FACILITATION-CUSTOMS The priority areas are aligned with and will be pursued under the SACU-WCO Customs Development Programme Projects on: IT Connectivity; Risk Management; Standard Operating Procedures; Trade Partnerships; and Legislation Implementation commenced in 2010 and is continuing.

11 TRADE FACILITATION PRINCIPLES The agreed principles to support customs cooperation and trade facilitation initiatives in the region include: Trade facilitation initiatives should focus on delivery i.e. making a real and measurable difference on the ground and targeting quick wins; The need to enhance the monitoring and implementation capacity for trade facilitation programmes; Member States should provide leadership in the coordination of donor activities and various customs activities in SACU; and The SACU trade facilitation initiatives should leverage on best practices and current regional, bilateral and national initiatives

12 IT CONNECTIVITY The achievement of IT interconnectivity within and between States was identified as a priority area of work for the region. Specific IT connectivity intervention areas identified include: Customs to Customs Interconnectivity; Customs to Business Interconnectivity; and Customs to Other Government Agencies Interconnectivity.

13 IT CONNECTIVITY POLICY In order to facilitate trade; increase transparency; maximise revenue collection; and improve the quality of trade data collected, Member States agree to pursue the automation and interconnectivity of their Customs Information Technology Systems to enable the timely electronic exchange of data between Customs administrations in respect of cross border movement of goods.

14 IT CONNECTIVITY OBJECTIVES To enable interconnectivity between SACU members states and other regional trading partners. To enable the timely electronic exchange of data between Customs administrations in respect of the cross border movement of goods. To maintain high levels of trade data integrity between regional trading partners.

15 IT CONNECTIVITY OBJECTIVES To promote harmonised processing of regional goods declarations. To reduce processing time at the border posts from days to hours. To permit the electronic transfer of advanced trade information between participating Customs administrations allowing - real time information sharing, risk assessment prior to arrival of goods, and data matching if required.

16 APPROACH TO CONNECTIVITY SACU adopted WCO Globally Networked Customs (GNC) approach. Initial focus on achieving Cross-border G2G data flow through the development of Utility Blocks for specific data exchange purposes (e.g. risk, revenue, Preferred Trader). The approach to connectivity in SACU adheres to the principle approved, which requires that: The SACU trade facilitation initiatives should leverage on best practices and current regional, bilateral and national initiatives

17 APPROACH TO CONNECTIVITY As consequence two existing bilateral connectivity programme have been identified as pilot programmes for the purpose of assessing the preferred connectivity approach for SACU. Botswana- Namibia Cloud Computing South Africa Swaziland Regional workshop, involving SACU, SADC, COMESA, TKC, UNCTAD and WCO convened to explore business processes, functions, data clusters, and application and infrastructure at national level for achieving connectivity.

18 IT CONNECTIVITY PURPOSE Systematic and automatic electronic exchange of data from Customs documents (Transit, Export and Import Customs Declarations) amongst Customs Administrations, with the following purposes: To enable transmission of pre-arrival data at the commencement of a customs procedure in the Customs Office at country of departure, and analysis of prearrival data using pre-defined risk criteria. To verify consistency of declarations submitted between participating Administrations. In other words, to enable automatic matching (comparison) of data from Customs Documents submitted between Border Crossing Points. To achieve alignment in trade statistics and to streamline reporting.

19 How we want it done Simple Export without Transit Country of Departure Country of Arrival Exporter Customs Customs Server Customs Server Importer Customs 1 Complete and Submit exporter Form 2 Transmit export Declaration * 3 Customs approves 4 Transmit Release Data at Exit Importer retrieves declaration Data, Domestecates and submit Import 5 Customs Approves 6 Transmit arrival confirmation 7 Transmit discrepancy Importer has the option of filling a declaration without re-using export declaration data * Re-transmission upon release in case of change in decvlaration

20 How we want it done Simple International Transit Country of Transit (first port of Arrival) Country of Arrival Transit Principal Customs Customs Server Customs Server Importer Customs 1 Complete and Submit Transit Declaration at departure 2 Transmit Transit Declaration * 3 Customs approves 4 Transmit Release Information at Exit Importer retrieves declaration Data, Domestecates and submit Import 5 Customs Approves 6 Transmit arrival confirmation 7 Transmit discrepancy Importer has the option of filling a declaration without re-using transit declaration information * Re-transmission upon release in case of change in decvlaration

21 How we want it done International Transit (1/2) Multiple Countries Country of Transit (first port of Arrival) Country of Transit Country of Arrival Transit Principal Customs Customs Server Transit Principal Customs Customs Server Customs Server Importer Customs 1 Complete and Submit Transit Declaration 3 2 Customs approves 4 2a Transmit Transit Declaration * Transmit Transit Declaration * Transmit Release Data at Exit (from first port of Arrival) Retrieves, Domesticate and Files Transit 5 Declaration Transmit Transit Declaration 5a Customs approves at Transit 6 Departure Transmit Release Information 8 7 Customs approves at Transit Destination 9 Transmit Release Importer has the option of filling a declaration without re-using export declaration data * Re-transmission upon release in case of change in decvlaration

22 How we want it done International Transit (2/2) Multiple Countries Country of Transit (first port of Arrival) Country of Transit Country of Arrival Transit Principal Customs Customs Server Transit Principal Customs Customs Server Customs Server Importer Customs 9 Transmit Release Information Importer retrieves declaration Data, Domestecates and submit Import 10 Customs Approves 11 Transmit arrival confirmation 12 Transmit discrepancy Transmit discrepancy 13 Importer has the option of filling a declaration without re-using export declaration data * Re-transmission upon release in case of change in decvlaration

23 How we want it done Export with Transit (1/2) Country of Departure Country of Transit Country of Arrival Exporter Customs Customs Server Transit Principal Customs Customs Server Customs Server Importer Customs 1 Complete and Submit exporter Form 3 2 2a Customs approves 4 Transmit export Declaration * Transmit export Declaration * Transmit Release Data at Exit Retrieves, Domesticate and Files Transit 5 Declaration Transmit Transit Declaration 5a Customs approves at Transit 6 Departure Transmit Release Information 8 7 Customs approves at Transit Destination 9 Transmit Release Importer has the option of filling a declaration without re-using export declaration data * Re-transmission upon release in case of change in decvlaration

24 How we want it done Export with Transit (2/2) Country of Departure Country of Transit Country of Arrival Exporter Customs Customs Server Transit Principal Customs Customs Server Customs Server Importer Customs 9 Transmit Release Information Importer retrieves declaration Data, Domestecates and submit Import 10 Customs Approves 11 Transmit arrival confirmation 12 Transmit discrepancy Transmit discrepancy 13 Importer has the option of filling a declaration without re-using export declaration data * Re-transmission upon release in case of change in decvlaration

25 BUSINESS RULES If goods are exported from a country of departure, and potentially transiting through a country of transit, or being imported into the country of arrival, messages must be processed according to following business rules: Country of departure shall transmit export declaration information to the country of transit or country of arrival; Country of departure shall transmit (if in a position to do so) manifest information (or equivalent) to country of transit or country of arrival; and Country of transit shall transmit transit information to the next country of transit or to the country of arrival, as the case may be. Country of arrival shall transmit arrival confirmation information to the country of departure and/or the country of transit.

26 BUSINESS RULES Country of departure may, in case of goods in transit, optionally transmit export declaration information to the country of arrival. Information received from country of departure or transit may be risk assessed and integrated with the automated customs system of the participating entities. The export declaration information or the transit information, as the case may be, is used by the country of arrival or country of transit in order to facilitate further processing.

27 BUSINESS RULES All exchanged information shall be extracted from the respective automated customs systems. Every information exchange shall be acknowledged by the receiving entity. Where certain procedures are not supported by the national automated customs system, a module will be developed to provide interfaces for manual keying of data.

28 DATA CLUSTERS Export declaration information Import declaration information Transit declaration information Movement information Release information (based on completion of customs procedure in the country of departure) Departure or arrival confirmation notification (based on conclusion of customs procedure in the country of arrival) Manifest information Discrepancy information

29 TRIGGERS Events which initiate electronic data flow - Pre-arrival: Country of departure to transmit export declaration upon acceptance of the customs export declaration or the transit declaration. Exit: Country of departure or the country of transit, as the case may be, to transmit release information upon termination of the customs procedure coinciding with the confirmation of exit of the truck. Country of departure, upon the termination of Customs procedure at exit, re-transmit the finalized export declaration information.

30 TRIGGERS Transit: Country of transit to transmit Discrepancy Message as result of automatic data matching transmitted to country of departure or country of transit, and country of arrival. Arrival: Country of arrival or country of transit to transmit Arrival Confirmation Message to the country of departure or transit, as the case may be, upon conclusion of customs procedures. Post Arrival: Country of arrival to transmit Discrepancy Message as result of automatic data matching transmitted to country of transit or country of departure.

31 COMMUNICATION Information Exchange between the participating countries shall take place over internet. Secure connections established with appropriate encryption technologies. In addition to the security of the communication channels, the exchanged messages shall also be secured through encryption.

32 PROGRESS Regional Custom IT Policy adopted Business rules, data clusters, triggers and communication agreed and will be used as basis to assess pilot programmes and inform preferred approach for SACU. Legal instrument Annex on Mutual Administrative Assistance- to facilitate information exchange developed and adopted by Member States.

33 ROAD AHEAD Develop required utility blocks Assess IT Connectivity pilots Ratification of MAA Annex Recommend preferred IT Connectivity solution approach for the region Implementation

34 CHALLENGES Different levels of development Resources (financial and human) Implementation capacity both at national and regional level Alignment with other regional TF programmes

35 OUR PARTNERS This programme is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency This programme benefits from the international standards, Customs expertise, advisory support and fund acquisition/fund management of the World Customs Organization

36 THANK YOU Yusuf Daya Tel: