SOUTH AFRICAN
NATIONAL BUDGET 2015
Finance Minister Nhlanhla
Nene will table the 2015 Budget in Parliament on 25 February 2015. It
will be the Minister’s maiden Budget speech.
The Ministry has appealed to members of the public
who wish to send suggestions to the Minister on the budget to do so by
using the following contact details:
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Link – http://www.treasury.gov.za/documents/national%20budget/default.aspx
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Fax – 012 406 9055.
DRAFT RULES:
CHAPTERS 32 TO CHAPTER 41 AND ANNEXURE A TO THE CUSTOMS CONTROL ACT NO.
31 OF 2014
(Comments extended to 20 February 2015)
The fourth and final batch of draft Rules to the
Customs Control Act has been published by SARS Customs for comment.
Comments were due on the 30 January 2015 but it has been extended to 20
February 2015.
The draft rules are the Rules for Chapters 32 to Chapter
41 of the Customs Control Act which are entitled:
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32. Recovery of debt
under the Act
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33. General enforcement
functions
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34. Detention, seizure
and confiscation of goods
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35. Prohibited,
restricted and sectorally controlled goods
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36. Counterfeit goods
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37. Reconsideration of
decisions and dispute resolution
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38. Voluntary
disclosure relief
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39. Administrative
penalties
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40. Judicial matters
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41. Miscellaneous
matters
Download the Draft Rules, Annexure A and the Comment
Sheet by clicking on the links below:
See links at http://www.sars.gov.za/Legal/Preparation-of-Legislation/Pages/Draft-Documents-for-Public-Comment.aspx.
Annexure A contains the “penalty list” and has been
incorporated in the document for ease of reference. Although it doesn't
currently form part of the Rules, it will be published at a later stage
in section 876(1)(a) of the Customs Control
Act.
The draft amendments proposed for Chapter 37 are
aimed at establishing uniform appeal and dispute resolution procedures
for the Customs Control Act and the Tax Administration Act (TAA) and
for that purpose to align the provisions of Chapter 37 of the Control
Act with the corresponding provisions contained in Chapter 9 of the Tax
Administration Act.
SOUTH AFRICAN DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE PUBLISHED
VARIOUS NOTICES REGARDING STANDARDS FOR IMPORTED AND EXPORTED PRODUCTS
The National Department of Agriculture of South
Africa has published various notices regarding export control of
agricultural products and the sale of standards for the sale of imported
agricultural products in South Africa.
The notices are:
·
Agricultural
Product Standards Act: Regulations: Classification and marking of meat
intended for sale in South Africa (Government Notice No. R.55)
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Agricultural
Product Standards Act: Regulations: Grading, packing and marking of
table grapes intended for sale in South Africa: Amendments: Comments
invited by 2 March 2015 (Government Notice No. R.65)
·
Agricultural
Product Standards Act: Standards and requirements: Control of export of
avocados: Amendment (Government Notice No. R.66)
·
Agricultural
Product Standards Act: Regulations: Grading, packing and marking of
apples intended for sale in South Africa: Amendments: Comments invited
by 2 March 2015 (Government Notice No. R.67)
·
Agricultural
Product Standards Act: Regulations: Grading, packing and marking of
pears intended for sale in South Africa: Amendments: Comments invited
by 2 March 2015 (Government Notice No. R.68)
·
Agricultural
Product Standards Act: Regulations: Grading, packaging and marking of
maize products intended for sale in South Africa: Amendments: Comments
invited by 2 March 2015 (Government Notice No. R.69)
The Notices have been published in Government Gazettes 38419 and 38431
of 30 January 2015.
See links at http://www.gov.za/document/latest.
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The
International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) is responsible for tariff
investigations, amendments, and trade remedies in South Africa and on
behalf of SACU.
Tariff
investigations include: Increases in the customs duty rates in
Schedule No. 1 Part 1 of Jacobsens.
These applications apply to all the SACU Countries, and, if amended,
thus have the potential to affect the import duty rates in Botswana,
Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland and South Africa.
Reductions
in the customs duty rates in Schedule No. 1 Part 1. These applications
apply to all the SACU Countries, and, if amended, thus have the
potential to affect the import duty rates in Botswana, Lesotho,
Namibia, Swaziland and South Africa.
Rebates of
duty on products, available in the Southern African Customs Union
(SACU), for use in the manufacture of goods, as published in Schedule
No. 3 Part 1, and in Schedule No. 4 of Jacobsens.
Schedule No. 3 Part 1 and Schedule No. 4, are identical in all the SACU
Countries.
Rebates of
duty on inputs used in the manufacture of goods for export, as
published in Schedule No. 3 Part 2 and in item 470.00. These provisions
apply to all the SACU Countries.
Refunds of
duties and drawbacks of duties as provided for in Schedule No. 5. These
provisions are identical in the all the SACU Countries.
Trade
remedies include: Anti-dumping duties (in Schedule No. 2 Part 1 of Jacobsens), countervailing duties to counteract
subsidisation in foreign countries (in Schedule No. 2 Part 2), and
safeguard duties (Schedule No. 2 Part 3), which are imposed as measures
when a surge of imports is threatening to overwhelm a domestic
producer, in accordance with domestic law and regulations and
consistent with WTO rules.
Dumping is defined as a
situation where imported goods are being sold at prices lower than in
the country of origin, and also causing financial injury to domestic
producers of such goods. In other words, there should be a demonstrated
causal link between the dumping and the injury experienced.
To remedy such unfair pricing, ITAC may, at times, recommend the
imposition of substantial duties on imports or duties that are
equivalent to the dumping margin (or to the margin of injury, if this
margin is lower).
Countervailing
investigations are conducted
to determine whether to impose countervailing duties to protect a
domestic industry against the unfair trade practice of proven subsidised
imports from foreign competitors that cause material injury to a
domestic producer.
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Safeguard
measures, can be introduced to protect a
domestic industry against unforeseen and overwhelming foreign
competition and not necessarily against unfair trade, like the previous
two instruments.
In the WTO system, a member may take a safeguard action, which
is, restricting imports temporarily in the face of a sustained increase
in imports that is causing serious injury to the domestic producer of
like products. Safeguard measures are universally applied to all
countries, unlike anti-dumping and countervailing duties that are aimed
at a specific firm or country.
Schedule No. 2 is identical in all the SACU Countries.
The International Trade Administration Commission
(ITAC) has published the first amendment applications to the Southern
African Customs Union Tariff for 2015.
The Southern African Customs Union comprises of South
Africa and Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland.
The Notice (Government Notice No. R.74 of 2015) was
published in Government Gazette 38419 on 30 January 2015.
Comments are due by 27 February 2015.
Both applications are in relation to amendments to Part
1 of Schedule No. 3.
The first application relates to the creation of two
rebate provisions for the upholstered furniture sector, namely:
Woven fabrics, containing 85% or more by mass of
synthetic filaments, of yarns of different colours,
classifiable in tariff subheading
5407.73, in such quantities, at such times and subject to such conditions
as the International Trade Administration Commission may allow by
specific permit, for use in the manufacture of upholstered furniture
classifiable in tariff heading 94.01; and
Woven fabrics of polyester staple fibres, (excluding that mixed mainly or solely with
wool or fine animal hair) , in such quantities, classifiable in tariff
subheading 5515.1, at such times and subject to such conditions as the
International Trade Administration Commission may allow by specific
permit, for use in the manufacture of upholstered furniture
classifiable in tariff heading 94.01.
(ITAC Reference 10/2014. Enquiries: Ms T. Morale. Telephone:
(012) 394 3694. Fax (012) 394 4694. E-mail: tmorale@itac.org.za.
The second application relates to the creation of a rebate provision
for:
"Goods of any description (excluding mounted or
populated circuit boards) for the manufacture of prepayment electricity
supply meters classifiable in tariff subheading 9028.30, at such times,
in such quantities and subject to such conditions as the International
Trade Administration Commission may allow by specific permit, provided
the Commission is satisfied that the circuit boards are mounted and
populated in the SACU region."
(ITAC Reference 20/2014. Enquiries and
correspondence
to be directed to Ms Lufuno
Maliaga. Telephone:
(012) 394 3845. Email: lmaliaga@itac.org.za.
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With the exception
of certain parts of Schedule No. 1, such as Schedule No. 1 Part 2
(excise duties), Schedule No. 1 Part 3 (environmental levies) Schedule
No. 1 Part 5 (fuel and road accident fund levies), the other parts of
the tariff is amended by SARS based on recommendations made by ITAC
resulting from the investigations relating to Customs Tariff
Applications received by them. The ITAC then investigates and makes
recommendations to the Minister of Trade and Industry, who requests the
Minister of Finance to amend the Tariff in line with the ITAC’s
recommendations. SARS is responsible for drafting the notices to amend
the tariff, as well as for arranging for the publication of the notices
in Government Gazettes.
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During the
annual budget speech by the Minister of Finance in February, it was
determined that parts of the tariff that are not amended resulting from
ITAC recommendations, must be amended through proposals that are tabled
by the Minister of Finance.
Once a
year big tariff amendments are published by SARS, which is in line with
the commitments of South Africa and SACU under international trade
agreements. Under these amendments, which are either published in
November or early in December, the import duties on goods are reduced
under South Africa’s international trade commitments under existing
trade agreements.
There were no tariff amendments since the amendments that were
released on 22 December 2014.
Download the
latest Customs Watch to have access to the latest tariff amendments.
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