Customs News Bulletin

	29 July 2015

Latest News

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: THE COMMISSION OF THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE ADMINISTRATION COMMISSION OF SOUTH AFRICA (ITAC) (Closing date: 31 July 2015)

In Proclamation No. 28 which was published in Government Gazette 39014 of 24 July 2015, the Minister of Economic Development calls for nominations from the public for candidates to serve as members of the Commission of the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC), which was established in terms of the International Trade Administration Act, 2002 (Act 71 of 2002).

Members of the Commission must:–

1) Be ordinarily resident in the Republic; and

2) Have suitable qualifications and experience in economics, accounting, law, commerce, agriculture, industry or public affairs.

A person may not be a Member of the Commission, if he/she:

a) Is an office-bearer of any party, movement, organisation or body of a partisan political nature;

b) Is an unrehabilitated insolvent;

c) Has been found mentally unfit by an order of a competent court; or

d) Has been convicted of an offence committed after the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1993 (Act
No. 200 of 1993) took effect, and sentenced to imprisonment without the option of a fine.

Nominations must be accompanied by:

§ a detailed Curriculum Vitae (CV);

§ shares and other financial interest form;

§ the register of interest information form;

§ a written motivation setting out the nominees’ suitability for appointment;

§ a signed letter of acceptance from the candidate;

§ a written disclosure of business interests and membership of other boards.

All forms are available from the Economic Development Department for the attention of the Director General, e-mail: EDD-DG@economic.gov.za Economic Development Department, Private Bag x149, Pretoria, 0001 or hand delivered at 77 Meintjies Street, Block A, Utangamari Building, 3rd Floor, Sunnyside, 0132.

Enquiries: Mr Paul Ledwaba. Tel: (012) 394-3561

Customs Tariff Applications and Outstanding Tariff Amendments

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. 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. ITAC did not publish any applications relating to tariff amendment applications or trade remedies lately. The latest application to amend the tariff (List 06/2015) was published under Notice 589 of 2015 in Government Gazette 38877 of 19 June 2015.

Customs Tariff Amendments

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. 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 new tariff amendments at time of publication. The latest tariff amendments were published in Government Gazette 38925 on 3 July 2015.    The amendments related to the deletion of anti-dumping duty items 211.06 - 5503.20 - 01.06 and 211.06 - 5503.20 - 02.06 with effect from 27 May 2015 and the insertion of rebate item 318.03 - 9028.30 - 01.06 to create a rebate provision for certain components used for the manufacture of electricity meters The loose-leaf pages to amend the Jacobsens Harmonized Customs Tariff were sent to subscribers under cover of Supplement 1052.

Customs Rule Amendments

The Customs and Excise Act is amended by the Minister of Finance. Certain provisions of the Act are supported by Customs and Excise Rules, which are prescribed by the Commission of SARS. These provisions are numbered in accordance with the sections of the Act. The rules are more user-friendly than the Act, and help to define provisions which would otherwise be unclear and difficult to interpret. Forms are also prescribed by rule, and are published in the Schedule to the Rules. Forms are also prescribed by rule, and are published in the Schedule to the Rules.  There were no Rule amendments at time of publication. On 3 July 2015, SARS Customs published an Amendment of the Customs and Excise Rules under section 21A relating to special economic zones (SEZs).

The rule amendment (DAR/156) was published on 3 July 2015 in Government Gazette 38925 under Notice R. 566. The effective date of this amendment will be on the date that the regulations under the Special Economic Zones Act, 2014 come into effect. Download the latest Customs Watch at www.jacobsens.co.za to have access to the latest tariff and rule amendments.

Contact Information:	Contact the Author:
Mayuri Govender Jacobsens Editor Tel: 031-268 3273 e-mail to: jacobsen@lexisnexis.co.za	Leon Marais Independent Customs Consultant Tel: 053-203 0727 e-mail to: leon.marais@intekom.co.za

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