New system to address Forbes Border congestion
AS Zimbabwe continues on improve its ease of doing business rankings, the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) this week launched the Zimbabwe Electronic Single Window automated system that seeks to reduce border delays and congestion.
Mutare’s Forbes Border Post was identified as the host of the pilot project which was officially launched in June 2022.
Once fully rolled out, the system is expected to increase transparency and revenue inflows through enhanced collection of fees, duties and penalties.
Forbes Border Post, which was initially established as a tourist clearing point before lndependence, has now evolved to become one of the busiest ports of entry in the country, thanks to its proximity to the busy Sea Port of Beira.
The border post serves almost half of the Sadc region, and is clearing about 900 haulage trucks every day.
This has resulted in long and winding queues of trucks which at times stretch to Mutare city centre, thereby causing congestion.
However, all this will soon be a thing of the past with the implementation of the Single Window system.
A Single Window system is a facility that allows parties involved in trade and transport to lodge standardised information and documents electronically with a single entry point to fulfil all import, export and transit regulatory requirements.
The development of a Single Window environment to facilitate trade or cross-border movement of goods is a modern initiative that has been under consideration by a number of international organisations such as the World Customs Organisation, the United Nations, as well as several customs administrations across the world.
In an interview with The Manica Post at Forbes Border Post on Wednesday, Zimra’s compliance head, Mr Adrain Swarres said the project is being implemented in phases.
“It is a system that allows us to provide an automated platform to coordinate the activities and functions of the clearance processes of all the border regulatory agencies that operate at the ports of entry.
“The project was officially launched in June 2022 and is being implemented in phases. The first phase is looking at bringing on board nine border regulatory agencies and stakeholders onto the system.
“The first phase is a three-year project, so we are just over one year into it. We identified Forbes Border Post as the host of the pilot project as it is one of the
◆