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| Sunday, 28 December 2003 |
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Paperless cargo clearance from next year by Hiran H. Senewiratne Sri Lanka will be the first South East Asian country to adopt the Automated Cargo Clearance import and export system when it implements the paperless cargo clearance method early next year. This paperless clearance of import, export and transshipment cargo would become reality from May 1, August 1, April 1 respectively. The new system will reduce pain staking paper work for exporters and importers, while reducing the transaction cost for them. The milestone follows the country embracing Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) under the Sri Lanka Automated Cargo Clearance System (SLACCS), a public-private sector initiative. The initiative will be kicked off from January 1 with the services provider eServices Lanka Ltd feeding around 1500 Customs declarations electronically daily to the system to ensure the EDI system works smoothly. SLACCS will replace the present manual system, which will facilitate the electronic submission of Customs declarations and allied documents between Customs House Agents, freight forwarders, shipping lines, Sri Lanka Customs, Sri Lanka Ports Authority and Board of Investment (BOI). "This will make a complete turnaround in the entire cargo clearing business", said the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Ravi Karunanayake. He said this system would be implemented with the assistance of USA, European Union and Japan under the Built Operations and Transfer (BOT) basis.The investment would be Rs 300 million, which the Government did not fund for the project. According to Mr. Karunanayake at present cargo clearing cost around Rs 1000 per transaction and with the new system in place it would be reduced to around Rs 450. "This system will create efficiency and cost effectiveness of the entire cargo clearance process", said Minister Karunanayake. He said Sri Lanka Customs and Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) processed more than six-hundred-thousand declarations for a year, which include import, export and transhipment. With the introduction of the new EDI system exporters and importers need not go from one institution to another, he added. "There would be only one document needed and the efficiency level would go up", Minister Karunanayake added. The main component involved in the export and import sector such as banks, harbours, airports, BOI and the Tea Board would be linked to simplify matters and to eliminate red tape, he said. |
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