Africa-Press – Seychelles. In a recent development sparked by a motion from the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Sebastien Pillay, to nullify Statutory Instrument (SI) 56 of 2023, the Trade department has come forward to clarify that this regulation imposes no extra charges on courier services.
SI 56, also known as the Postal Sector (Clearance of Courier Goods and Door-to-Door Delivery) Regulations, mandates courier services to take on the responsibility of clearing parcels for their clients and ensuring door-to-door delivery.
The principal secretary (PS) for Trade, Francis Lebon, highlighted that this regulation emerged in response to the escalating parcel volume and congestion at airport cargo facilities. In 2021, the government established a committee to explore innovative solutions for this issue, which involved extensive consultations with courier services, Customs, and the Attorney General’s office.
The postal service has seen a significant increase in parcel volumes in recent years. In 2021, they handled 37,000 parcels, which escalated to 157,000 in 2022 and has already reached 180,000 in 2023. It’s worth noting that these statistics do not apply to parcels processed by courier services.
The regulation consists of eight clauses, with the first clause focusing on the notification process. Couriers must notify clients upon receiving a parcel and are obligated to clear parcels valued at both R3000 and R5000 and above, with clients only responsible for relevant taxes which were reinforced prior to the regulation taking effect, before enjoying free door-to-door delivery.
Couriers who fail to comply with these regulations may face fines of up to R50,000.
Mr Lebon emphasised that these measures were designed in the consumers’ interest, streamlining the parcel clearance and delivery process to ease their burden.
The only instance where consumers may incur additional expenses is if they request delivery to an address different from the one specified on the parcel.
According to PS Lebon, the source of the confusion appears to stem from another concurrent discussion concerning the Express Courier Module, an integral part of the ongoing developments within the Automated Systems for Customs Data (ASYCUDA) customs management system.
This module is part of the government’s strategy to digitalise the Seychelles Revenue Commission (SRC) processes, aiming for enhanced efficiency and alignment with international best practices.
“During the Express courier module discussions, there arose a concern regarding low-value items. The World Customs Organisation guidelines dictate the need for a simplified declaration process.
“However, our conversations with courier services revealed that this simplified declaration might potentially incur an additional cost for consumers. Therefore, on August 28, we recognised the necessity to reevaluate our approach, seeking an alternative method to digitalise the simplified declaration without imposing any additional costs,” Mr Lebon pointed out.
The launch of the Module was scheduled for September 1, but its implementation has been put on hold, following an email by Head of Customs, Paul Barrack, the same morning, stating that normal procedures would remain in place.
However, due to a communication mishap, courier service Mahé Shipping released a notice detailing new pricing for simplified bill of entries on August 31, although they retracted this notice on September 1.
Mr Lebon emphasised that the decision to halt the chargeable fee for simplified declarations on September 1 was unrelated to the ongoing discussions regarding the SI.
“I believe, with all due respect and humility, that the motion to annul SI 56 was not founded on factual information, and has served to spread confusion,” Mr Lebon added.
There are presently four courier services serving the market, namely, Fedex, DHL, Mahé Shipping and EMS who falls under the Post Office.
Also present for the press briefing was Mr Barrack and representative of Mahé Shipping Jane Fred, as well as Juliette Pascal, representative of Air Seychelles/Fedex.
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