SFAAZ was founded around 1955 with a mandate to represent the interests of its member companies. Estimates are that members of the association handle in excess of 95% of the country's commercial imports and exports. The customs clearing members of the association play a very significant role in import revenue collection on behalf of government. The association also has a mandate from its membership and an expectation from its stakeholders, including government, to be the vanguard of a very high level of professionalism and to provide competent and relevant training programmes for the industry.