Customs Clearance:
Msinga Shipping is an accredited and licensed customs clearing agent, represented at all major ports and airports throughout South Africa.
The introduction by SARS (South African Revenue Service) of the EDI system - an electronic clearance system that offers time-saving benefits, greater data accuracy, and improved security and risk management - allows Msinga Shipping to provide electronic clearance in minimal time - nationwide. We focuse on compliance management to expedite cargo flows of imports and exports by air, sea and land. Services include tariff classifications, value declaration and duty management with the objective of lowering the cost of doing business.
SARS has evaluated all of our processes crucial to the business of customs clearing and confirms our compliance to the Customs & Excise fraternity.
Required Documents & Information:
South Africa’s shipping process involves many documents. Here we will briefly discuss the main documents that are used in the process. In all below, please read “port” as either seaport (Durban, Cape Town etc) or inland port (Johannesburg, Pretoria etc).. Certain other terms that are not clear to some will be explained clearly.
If at any point in time should you have any queries, please do not hesitate to comment on our page and we will attend to your query at our earliest availability.
With regards to exports, all relevant documentation must be processed within the stack period (period of time allocated by the port in which all export cargo for a particular ship should enter the port).
In the case of imports(Break bulk open air shipment), the general documents named D/O or Deliver Order has to be passed before expiry of the three free days allowed at the port. Failing to do so the client will be liable for fines and storage fees would be applicable at Transnet Port Terminal when passing your Landing Order.
In the case of imports, the general documents named Cargo Dues has to be passed before expiry of the three free days allowed at the port failing which the shipping line might move the container on overstay and storage would be applicable.
Bill of Entry – abbreviated to read B/E is basically the SAD500 document that is passed by a customs clearing agent on behalf of the importer or exporter. This is the document on which the South African Revenue Service (SARS), South African Customs or Customs as they are known will stamp and confirm that the cargo is allowed to be exported or imported. For exportation of Containers should be passed before the container goes into the terminal and for imports this should be passed before the container is due to arrive at the port terminal.
Shipping Agents will not issue any (Delivery Order) or D/O as its known, In the case of imports if Cargo Dues is not present, and the B/E is not processed and a copy stamped by customs is not produced, or release of the bill of lading in the case of exports.
In an event that an error occurs by the client or shipping agent we wpild gladly assist by processing a VOC (Voucher of Correction). This document from Customs allows for any amendments to details should they arise.
Cargo Dues Order – abbreviated to read (CDO) is the document that is passed by a client with the National Port Authority (NPA). A CDO fee is payable as per the tariff set out by NPA annually. This is basically the exporter or importers remuneration to the NPA for using their facilities for movement of the cargo at the port.
Container and Break bulk Release: Any Shipping Agent will not release their bill of lading (in the case of imports) or Delivery Order (in the case of exports) to their clients unless a copy of the Cargo Dues Order stamped by NPA is received. If for some reason the client has not paid the Cargo Dues Order fees to NPA, then the same is in general invoiced by NPA to the shipping Agent involved.
Landing Order – This a document passed by a client(Clearing Agent) of Transnet Port Terminals (TPT), which we are, after Cargo Dues and D/O are processed. This step requires the SAD500, Stamped copy of SARS Release from Customs and Original D/O to be presented before Landing is produced. Landing is a formal release document from Transnet port Terminal which allows entry to the port by registered transporter to take release of the vehicle and deliver it to its desired destination.
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Bill of Lading – abbreviated to read B/L is a document that serves as
- document of title,
- an evidence of contract of carriage and
- an evidence of receipt of goods by the carrier
This is issued by the shipping line after ascertaining and confirming that:
- the container(s) covered in the bill of lading are infact physically shipped on board the specific ship/voyage
- the relevant freight and other charges have been paid by the shipper or his agent
- the relevant authenticated docs – B/E and CDO have been submitted by the shipper or his agent
There are many types of bills of lading in use:-
- Amended B/L: B/L requiring updates that do not change financial status. this is slightly different from corrected B/L.
- B/L Terms & Conditions: the fine print on B/L. defines what the carrier can and cannot do, including the carrier’s liabilities and contractual agreements.
- B/L’s Status: represents whether the bill of lading has been input, rated, reconciled, printed, or released to the customer.
- B/L’s Type: refers to the type of B/L being issued. Some examples are: a Memo (ME), Original (OBL), Non-negotiable, Corrected (CBL) or Amended (AM) B/L.
- Canceled B/L: B/L status. Used to cancel a processed B/L. usually per shipper’s request. Different from voided B/L.
- Clean B/L: A B/L which bears no superimposed clause or notation which declares a defective condition of the goods and/or the packaging.
- Combined B/L: B/L that covers cargo moving over various transports.
- Consolidated B/L: B/L combined or consolidated from two or more B/L’s.
- Corrected B/L: B/L requiring any update which results in money. Or other financially related changes.
- Domestic B/L: Non-Negotiable B/L primarily containing routing details. Usually used by truckers and freight forwarders.
- Duplicate B/L: Another original Bill of Lading set if first set is lost. also known as reissued B/L.
- Express B/L: Non-Negotiable B/L where there are no hard copies of originals printed.
- Freight B/L: A contract of carriage between a shipper and forwarder (who is usually a NVOCC). A Non-Negotiable document.
- Hitchment B/L: B/L covering parts of a shipment which are loaded at more than one location. Hitchment B/L usually consists of two parts, hitchment and hitchment memo. The hitchment portion usually covers the majority of a divided shipment and carries the entire revenue.
- House B/L: B/L issued by a freight forwarder or consolidator covering a single shipment containing the names, addresses and specific description of the goods shipped.
- Intermodal B/L: B/L covering cargo moving via multimodal means. Also known as Combined Transport B/L, or Multimodal B/L.
- Long Form B/L: B/L form with all Terms & Conditions written on it. Most B/L’s are short form which incorporates the long form clauses by reference.
- Memo B/L: Unfreighted B/L with no charges listed.
- Negotiable B/L: The B/L is a title document to the goods, issued “to the order of” a party, usually the shipper, whose endorsement is required to effect is negotiation. Thus, a shipper’s order (negotiable) B/L can be bought, sold, or traded while goods are in transit and is commonly used for letter of credit transactions. The buyer must submit the original B/L to the carrier in order to take possession of the goods.
- Non-Negotiable B/L: See Straight B/L. Sometimes means a file copy of a B/L.
- “Onboard” B/L: B/L validated at the time of loading to transport. Onboard Air, Boxcar, Container, Rail, Truck and Vessel are the most common types.
- Optional Discharge B/L: B/L covering cargo with more than one discharge point option possibility.
- “Order” B/L: See Negotiable B/L.
- Original B/L: The part of the B/L set that has value, especially when negotiable. rest of set are only informational file copies. Abbreviated as OBL.
- Received for Shipment B/L: Validated at time cargo is received by ocean carrier to commence movement but before being validated as “Onboard”.
- Reconciled B/L: B/L set which has completed a prescribed number of edits between the shippers instructions and the actual shipment received. This produces a very accurate B/L.
- Short Term B/L: Opposite of Long Form B/L, a B/L without the Terms & Conditions written on it. Also known as a Short Form B/L. The terms are incorporated by reference to the long form B/L.
- Split B/L: One of two or more B/L’s which have been split from a single B/L.
- Stale B/L: A late B/L in banking, a B/L which has passed the time deadline of the L/C and is void.
- Straight (Consignment) B/L: Indicates the shipper will deliver the goods to the consignee. It does not convey title (Non-Negotiable). Most often used when the goods have been prepaid.
- “To Order” B/L: See Negotiable B/L.
- Voided B/L: Related to Consolidated B/L. those B/L’s absorbed in the combining process. Different from Canceled B/L.
- Negotiable Instruments: A document of title (such as a draft, promissory note, cheque, or bill of lading) transferable from one person to another in good faith for a consideration. Non-Negotiable bills of lading are known as “straight consignment.” Negotiable bills are known as “order b/l’s.”
What is EDI and what is the importance of EDI in current day shipping?
Electronic Data Interchange or EDI as its commonly known as comprises of many types of “messages” which when transmitted between two parties is designed to substitute other forms of data transfer.
In the past, a hard copy of the manifest had to be handed over to the captain of the ship and also a hard copy of the same used to be couriered or posted to the relevant discharge ports. Then as technology improved, there was the process by which the manifest was sent to the relevant discharge ports by email. The manifests thus received by the discharge port agents were manually captured into their respective computer systems.
With the advent of EDI, the above can now be avoided with messages being sent and received more efficiently and precious time being saved. When sent as an EDI message, the data can be instantly downloaded into the recipients system thereby avoiding manual capture which in turn will avoid any typographical errors and also saves a lot of time.
This EDI messaging is also used to send the data to Customs (Manifest, Bill of Entry), Port (Container Stowage planning, Cargo Dues, Landing Orders, Load/Discharge list, Container moves), Principals (Load/Discharge list, Container moves, Bookings).
Usually there are software that will help to convert data into an EDI format and this is then sent by email to the recipient same as a normal machine. At the other end, there are systems that can automatically receive these messages and transfer them back into data in their system.
There are many different types of EDI messages chief among them or mainly used by shipping lines/agents.
EDI Improves communication, reliable and efficient transfer of documentation between Customs and its Clearing Agents.
Manifest
– Simply put, manifest is a collection of bills of lading or export entries that are either onboard a specific ship for sea transport, Train for Rail Transport, Plane for Air Transport and Vehicle Carrier for Road Transportation. A manifest lists all the details of the cargo, the shipper, consignee, weight, measurement, packing and quantity of cargo. There are generally different types of manifests as below:
Cargo Manifest – lists all information relating to the cargo excluding the freight charges.
Freight Manifest – lists all information relating to the cargo including the freight charges. All charges as indicated in the manifest are either to be paid by the shipper or consignee.
Dangerous Cargo Manifest – a manifest that details the dangerous/hazardous cargoes on board the ship.
Out of Guage Manifest – a manifest that details the out of guage (abnormal sized) cargoes on board the ship.
Container Mast – FCL (Full Container Load) and LCL(Less Container Load) Cargo reported by master cargo carrier on Master of Lading level.
Container House – Groupage Cargo reported by the Groupage operator / NVOCC on house bill of Lading level.
SEA /Bulk / Break Bulk Manifest – BILL OF LADING
Empty Container List
Airline flight Manifest
Air Cargo reported on a Master Air waybill
Air Cargo reported on House Air waybill
Rail Manifest
Road Freight Manifest – Haulage of cargo by Road
Manifest Documentation required.
Sea – Bill of Lading
Road – Road Manifest
Air – Air waybill
Manifest for all cargo must be processed. No Transportation of any cargo can be moved without declaration of a manifest.
And with all our systems on EDI we guarantee a speedy, efficient and very reliable ease of mind response.