A.2 COMESA-SADC TRANSIT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (SADCOM) Background The SADC Protocol on Trade, Annex 4, provides the SADC ICT Strategy for the establishment of a regional transit regime and transit guarantee chain system. The Memorandum of Understanding on the COMESA-SADC Transit Management Information System supports the development of a joint solution to meet the needs of Member States and actively promote the modernisation of Customs administrations in the regions through the adoption and implementation of appropriate enabling systems and technologies. Based on the findings and recommendations of the SADCOM Transit Management System Study Report in December 2011, a harmonised solution is proposed which incorporates elements from the transit management system that was developed by COMESA and SADC. The 22nd SCCC meeting has approved the work plan that was agreed and approved by the Heads of ICT and Transit Experts in May 2012. The plan defines a phased approach to implement a future SADCOM system that is based on the five pillars of specification and design and follows a distributed, multi-vendor architecture and integration with national systems. Objectives The proposed SADCOM solution aims to; · realise a regional data exchange and transit solution, enabling the timely exchange of electronic data between regional member countries and promote the reduction of paper based processes, · share critical customs information to advance real-time information sharing, enable risk management prior to arrival and allow data matching if required, · reduce the administrative burden of traders and reduce the processing time at the border, 13 Draft SADC Customs ICT Strategy 2012 Page 13