Five member states of the South African Customs Union (SACU) will benefit from lower trade costs and simplified import and export procedures thanks to the Mutual Recognition Agreement signed on June 1, reports the Namibia Economist newspaper.
On Wednesday, an agreement was signed in South Africa to launch the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) program between Namibia, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and South Africa.
OEA is the flagship Customs-business partnership program in these countries, allowing customs to share their compliance and security responsibilities with the private sector while rewarding them with some of the benefits of trade facilitation.
Partnership programs of this type with trade organizations allow Customs to achieve more with less, ensuring long-term and sustainable compliance through incentives.
In simple terms, the AEO program is an internationally approved risk management approach intended to collaborate with actors in the commercial supply chain.
Merchants must maintain high-quality internal operating processes, have a good track record of compliance, and in turn reap certain benefits.
The AEO program supports broader voluntary compliance by allowing Customs to reward traders who choose to comply.
By signing the Mutual Recognition Agreement, the Commissioners General of the Revenue Authorities of Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa agreed to recognize each other as Authorized Economic Operators (AEOs).
The General Commissioners have pledged “do everything possible to facilitate interregional trade to ensure the success of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, exploring all its possibilities and attentively responding to all risks associated with it”.
“It is in our hands as SACU fiscal leaders to play a key role in significantly reducing the persistent remnants of poverty, inequality and unemployment among the population of our region and beyond”SACU said in a statement released.
The Commissioners General should also strive to ensure that the AEO program further deepens Africa’s connection to global trade networks in order to take full advantage of the economic development opportunities that such integration offers.
SACU leaders said they believe in partnering, working with and through others to improve the entire business ecosystem in support of voluntary compliance. “As SACU, we have developed an ambitious trade facilitation program”they said.
The South African Revenue and Customs (SARS) Commissioner, Professor Edward Kiswetter said of the deal:
“The AEO program supports the strategic intent of SARS to work toward a system of voluntary compliance. This requires SARS to become more dependent on taxpayers and merchants who choose to comply. The AEO program does just that! It establishes a relationship between tax administrations and companies, through which we support each other with the highest standards”..
Source: Rossa Primavera
I am Michael Melvin, an experienced news writer with a passion for uncovering stories and bringing them to the public. I have been working in the news industry for over five years now, and my work has been published on multiple websites. As an author at 24 News Reporters, I cover world section of current events stories that are both informative and captivating to read.