On the 12th of October 2015, the SACU Secretariat together with the World Customs Organization, under the WCO SACU Connect Project funded by the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida), convened the second meeting of the SACU Regional Customs Trade Forum, in Johannesburg, South Africa. Members participating included, amongst others, associations representing freight forwarders, clearing agents, transporters, manufacturers and Chambers of Commerce and Industry. In line with the governance structure of the Forum the meetings are chaired by a senior Customs officer from a SACU Member State and a representative of the private sector. This second meeting was co-chaired by Mr Fanie Vesfeld from the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and Ms. Juanita Maree representing the regional private sector members.
The agenda for the Forum included agreement on the final draft Terms of Reference for the Forum and finalizing all administrative issues around funding mechanisms, the proposed structure for management of the Customs Trade Forum at the national and regional levels and feedback from the private sector on the SACU Preferred Trader Programme.
For more information, please contact Mr. Dalton N. Nxumalo (WCO-SACU CONNECT Project Manager) at Dalton.Nxumalo@wcoomd.org or Dalton.Nxumalo@sacu.int