Letter to the editor: Manifests should be released before ships’ arrival |04 January 2014

Since the commencement of the Asycuda system a few months ago, there has been some turbulences both on the Seychelles Revenue Commission’s (SRC) side and clearing agents which have been mostly sorted out with the continuous training provided from SRC.  Yet we traders face a major problem to clear our goods on time mainly because of the shipping agents’ irresponsible manner. In the Asycuda program, one of the major concerns is the manifest which is required to log in the system. Now, even when the traders obtain their original documents which include bill of lading, invoices, packing lists, etc in advance, we cannot process the bill of entry in the absence of the manifest which is given by the shipping agents.

Eventhough the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce chairman had informed all shipping agents to give the manifest at least 48 hours before the ship’s arrival, they are not bothered to cooperate or to assist the traders. For the past few months till today they are stating the same reason -- that they can give the manifest only after the ship’s arrival at the port. This applies for the release of the cargo as well.

Twenty years ago we were able to view the manifest at least 10 days before the arrival of the ship and release was given before the ship’s arrival, which was done by getting the CD by courier beforehand and a print-out taken by the shipping agents to view.

Today, after twenty years and with so much advanced technology in the communication field, it seems our shipping agents are going backwards.

The reason they say for not giving the manifest or release is that if the ship does not call at our port or arrives late, they will be affected.

When a ship is scheduled to arrive at a port, it is 99.9% confirmed that it will arrive on that date as we have proper communication in place. The possibility of a ship not arriving is 0.1% and the shipping agents, it would seem, base their decision on the 0.1% probability.

Even if the ship arrives late, we cannot understand how they are affected because by giving the manifest beforehand, a trader cannot jump on the docks to get his goods as there are other  procedures to follow like D&DO at Land and Marine, payment of bill of entry at customs, again verification if required, security checks, etc.

Hence if the ship arrives late the trader will pass the bill of entry as well as clear the goods at that time.

Now when the manifest and release are given only after the ship’s arrival which is the present procedure, we have to wait in long queues at the shipping agents, at Land and Marine to pay D&DO, causing delays at Customs as it is not possible for Customs to deal with a large number of bills within a short space of time.

We believe that shipping agents must take this issue seriously and provide the manifest and release at least four days before the ship’s arrival and if they cannot do so, SRC must find a way to log in to the system without the manifest, using the bill of lading as proof that the goods have been shipped on board the particular vessel. Some traders were unable to clear their Christmas and New Year goods on time because of this procedure and if this continues traders will be affected significantly.

G.Siva Pillay
POONKYL TRADING
IMPORTER & WHOLESALER