Business sector sensitised on virtual trade facilitation system

The private sector has welcomed the introduction of COMESA Virtual Trade Facilitation System (CVTFS) in the country. The Indigenous Customs Clearing and Forwarding Association (ICCAFA) and the Clearing and Forwarding Agents Association of Malawi (CAFAAM) said this in Blantyre recently when MRA and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) conducted a sensitisation meeting on the system.

The two groups say the new innovation is timely as it will ensure goods’ security. The CVTFS, which is a regional cargo tracking system, comes into effect after MRA and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) signed an agreement for its establishment.

Opening the meeting on behalf of the Commissioner General, the Commissioner of Customs and Excise, Mr Fatch Valeta, said MRA is automating its services not only in Customs but also in other divisions.
“MRA is using technologies to advance trade facilitation. As we speak, the ASYCUDA World is up and running in 11 of our stations. The coming in of CVTFS is a sure way of reducing cost of doing business. On our side it means an end to physical escorts of goods in transit by Customs officers.

“We will now ably monitor such consignments of goods online and real time. Physical escorting of transit goods was straining us because we were short of staff most of the times,” he added.
Valeta further said that the system has provisions that any diversion by drivers will trigger alerts to the control centre, prompting swift corrective responses from MRA’s enforcement teams and Flexible Anti-Smuggling Teams (FAST). This, he said, assures the business sector of safety of their goods.

COMESA Group Financial Advisors Mr. Sandisiwe Ndlovu, said CVTFS was developed in line with the trade-bloc’s Protocol on Transit Trade and Transit Facilities and is able to integrate with other systems in order to achieve more transparency and control in the movement of national and international cargo.
The system was successfully launched and is operational in the DRC and that Zambia and Rwanda will follow in the next two months.

ADVANCEMENT: Members from the private and public sectors pose a group photo with COMESA and MRA officials after the meeting
BY HENRY MCHAZIME