Int. J Sup. Chain. Mgt Vol. 7, No. 4, August 2018 48 Impact of Trade Facilitation on the Freight Forwarding Industry: A Case of Plumtree Border Post Wilford Mawanza #1 , Mellisa Z.L Ncube #2 , Blessed Mpofu *3 # Department of Accounting and Finance, Department of Business Management, Lupane State University, P.O Box AC 255, Ascot, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe wmawanza@lsu.ac.zw mzlncube@lsu.ac.zw blessedmdlongwa04@gmail.com Abstract— The main aim of the study was to investigate the impact of trade facilitation in the freight forwarding industry. The study was largely prompted by the high levels of delays that are experienced at border posts by traders and tourists, hence the need to investigate the challenges faced by freight forwarders resulting in delays and the effectiveness of the Plumtree border post as a trade facilitation tool. The study focused on the challenges, causes and effects of different trade facilitating agencies that directly affect the freight forwarding industry through a case survey of 72 respondents comprising freight forwarders, clearing agents, traders and customs officers at the Plumtree border post was used. The results revealed that there is greater need to increase transparency and integrity in the administration of daily operations at the border post. There are increased direct and indirect costs such as transport and customs documentation leading to inefficiency, increased lead time and fraudulent activities arising amongst freight forwarders and clearance delays for consignments hence it was recommended that the freight forwarding industry should propose to trade facilitation agencies to fully adopt and implement trade facilitation standards, recommendations and best practices which have been developed by various international bodies. Keywords—Trade Facilitation, freight forwarding, Zimbabwe, customs, transport. 1. Introduction International trade has as well brought with it globalization that has come with many factors creating a competitive global environment in freight forwarding such as efficient and low cost transportation, and logistics from source to destination and this has seen notable positive and negative impacts on the supply chains of economies particularly the Zimbabwean freight forwarding sector [1]. Border posts have always been the gateway from one country to the other. As such the Plumtree border post which happens to be the second largest is the main crossing point between Zimbabwe and Botswana. It is named Ramokgwebana on the Botswana side. The border post operates from 0600hrs to 2200hrs meaning all freight forwarders arriving after closing time have to wait and be cleared the following day, [2] Trade controls were introduced so as to curb problems faced by freight forwarders among other border users, yet solutions are hard to depict. Border delays are the most strenuous as freight forwarders find themselves faced with the challenge of meeting deadlines. Inspections of consignments contribute to the delays as these are done physically, yet one of the main aims of trade facilitation was to provide scanners and x-ray machines to enhance on inspection. Exchange rate fluctuations have led to the decrease in organizations sourcing from international markets hence leading to a decrease in market growth potential for the freight forwarders. The introduction of the Statutory Instrument 64 of 2016 also infringed rules of international trade as Zimbabwe is a member of the 165 member World Trade Organisation and being a member also means they have a highly utilized neutral dispute settlement system which they fall back on when things go wrong as they do in global trade Non- Tariff Barriers. Lengthy customs clearance ______________________________________________________________ International Journal of Supply Chain Management IJSCM, ISSN: 2050-7399 (Online), 2051-3771 (Print) Copyright © ExcelingTech Pub, UK (http://excelingtech.co.uk/) brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk provided by ExcelingTech Publishing Company (E-Journals)