Cargo movement improves at Beitbridge

THE movement of cargo through Beitbridge Border Post has relatively improved after the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) attended to its Automated System for Customs Data (Asycuda World Plus).

The situation had turned chaotic at most ports of entry following a major breakdown of Zimra’s main servers on December 18 last year.

It is understood that the country could have lost an estimated $20 million in potential revenue between December last year and January this year due to the system breakdown.

In addition, the volume of haulage trucks with commercial cargo entering through Beitbridge reduced to 100 per day from the usual 500 due to the technical glitches around Asycuda.

Customs clearing agents said in separate interviews on Wednesday, that the situation improved after Government intervened through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development.

Shipping and Forwarding Agents Association of Zimbabwe (SFAAZ), chairperson for Beitbridge, Mr Laddie Gamanya said the situation at the port of entry was slowly normalising.

“At the moment Zimra is clearing, but has a backlog in updating entries, which were processed manually in the absence of the electronic clearance system,” he said.

“The electronic clearance system has been resuscitated, though it is operating with minimal challenges. I don’t have the exact numbers of trucks being cleared daily, but the state of affairs on the ground point to a relative increase in North-Bound traffic.”

Mr Gamanya said customs clearing agents will continue engaging Zimra on issues around standard operational procedures.

He said the technical glitch was largely felt at Beitbridge where cargo had been stuck for days after Zimra adopted a manual processing system for commercial entries.

Zimra’s head of communications Mr Canisio Mudzimu could not be reached for comment.

Technical glitches to the system, which uses Internet have become perennial.

Customs clearing agents recently called on the Government to dump the Asycuda World Plus, saying the system was not efficient.

Under the Ascyuda system, clients submit their customs documents from anywhere in the world provided there is Internet connectivity.