Cargo freighter

SARS has announced the decommissioning of its current manifest acquittal system (MAS). This is scheduled for 6 May 2011. The new automated cargo management system (ACM) will be launched simultaneously to allow cargo reporters in the air and sea cargo environments to report cargo bills, and other related cargo reports to SARS. In recent months SARS has worked closely with external stakeholders to impart its vision and intent regarding the launch of the new system. The first phase of the cargo initiative is to ensure that all parties involved in the contract of carriage of goods against a cargo bill (bill of lading or airwaybill) are registered with SARS.

An important facet of this phase is to ensure that not only principal carriers report their cargo manifest to SARS, but also freight forwarders and NVOCCs. Customs’ aim is to perform combined risk assessment and matching of manifests with the goods declaration to enable automatic acquittal. This can only be possible if so-called house manifests are submitted electronically to SARS.

For more information refer to the SARS Customs Modernisation webpage.