Zimra extends renewal period
THE Zimbabwe Revenue Authority has extended the renewal period for licensing of customs clearing agents from December 31 to January 31 next year.
Zimra said the review had been necessitated by the breakdown of the automated system for customs data (Asycuda World plus).
Read part of the statement: “Please be advised that the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority has extended the period for renewal of licensing of clearing agents from 31 December 2017 to 31 January 2018.
“This has been necessitated by the challenges being experienced with Asycuda. All clients whose applications have been approved are encouraged to go ahead and pay the 2018 license fees through the respective Zimra stations”.
The tax authority said all active clearing agents, whose applications for renewal for 2018 were being processed, would not be deactivated after December 31.
It said agents with outstanding obligations must approach the organisation’s stations for finalisation.
The country’s customs authority recently reverted to processing imports and exports of commercial goods manually after technicians failed to resuscitate Asycuda-World plus, which broke down a fortnight ago.
The new development has resulted in Zimra clearing an average of 100 trucks per day entering or leaving the country, down from 500.
Further, truck parks on the South African side of the border are failing to contain the increasing number of trucks destined for Zimbabwe and countries north of the Zambezi River.
Meanwhile, clearance of travellers at Beitbridge Border Post has relatively improved after border authorities reviewed their operational strategy thereby reducing congestion. Last week the border post had become clogged with both vehicular and human traffic as many Zimbabweans based in South Africa arrived for the festive holidays.
The assistant immigration officer in charge of Beitbridge (Zimbabwe), Mr Notius Tarisai, said they were clearing around 16 000 travellers daily, down from between 24 000 and 30 000 during peak period.
He said while a few people have started going back to South Africa, they were anticipating the numbers to peak from January 1, 2018.
“The situation at the moment is manageable, we are handling around 11 000 departures and 6000 arrivals,” said Mr Tarisai.
“We have reviewed our operational plan to ensure that we create a smooth environment for efficient services for those leaving or entering the country.
“At the same time we want to urge travellers to co-operate with border officials so that we avoid unnecessary delays and congestion within the border”.
He said they had opened more clearance points outside the main Immigration Hall and separated traffic into commercial, buses, private cars, pedestrians and tourists. Mr Tarisai said they had put signage in place adding that there were marshals on the ground to direct people to the various service points within the border.
“We are operating with an integrated border efficiency and management plan with our South African counterparts. We have set our festive season from 8 December to 11 January next year,” he said. Zimra has said it was working with other stakeholders to flash out criminals operating within the border area.