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Customs News Bulletin

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4 May 2017

 

 

Latest News

SOUTH AFRICAN COUNCIL FOR THE NON-PROLIFERATION OF WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION INTRODUCES ELECTRONIC IMPORT/EXPORT SYSTEM

The South African Council for the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction Council is a statutory body appointed by the Minister of Trade and Industry and is established in terms of the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction Act, 1993 (Act No. 87 of 1993), in short the Non-Proliferation Act. In terms of the Non-Proliferation Act, any person who is in control of any controlled goods in the areas of biological, nuclear, chemicals or delivery systems (missile), or who has in his possession or custody or under his control, such controlled goods shall register with the Non-Proliferation Council. The Act further determines that import, export, re-export or transit of such goods may only take place under a permit issued by the Council.

Currently all applications for registration and import and export permits are manually submitted by industry members, then processed and issued as a signed hard copy document to the applicant. In a recent note to industry members, titled: "THE TRANSMISSION FROM MANUAL TO ELECTRONIC SYSTEM FOR TRANSMISSION OF REGISTRATION AND PERMIT APPLICATIONS TO THE SOUTH AFRICAN COUNCIL FOR THE NON-PROLIFERATION OF WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION (THE NON-PROLIFERATION COUNCIL)", applicants were informed that the Council embarked on the development of an electronic, internet-based system for submission of registration and permit applications in order to ease the administrative burden for both the Council and industry as well as to improve service delivery.  It is anticipated that the new electronic system will be launched by the 2nd of May 2017.

Once the system is launched, applicants will register online. In the same vein applicants who are already registered will need to apply for import and export permits online.

The note further stated that the new electronic system will run concurrently with the current system for the manual submission of until the end of June 2017 when it will ultimately be phased out in order to ease the transition for industry members.

Contact the Secretariat of the Non-Proliferation Council on (012) 394 3030/+27 12 394 3030 or (012) 394 5779/+27 12 394 5779 or e-mail nonproliferation@thedti.gov.za for any enquiries.

The latest service issue (2017 version) of the Guide deals with the identification and classification of dual-use goods and other products such as chemicals which could be used in the production of weapons of mass destruction, with specific focus on the products we deal with on a daily basis.

The Guide to Classification, like most Jacobsens publications, is a loose-leaf publication which is updated annually.

The Guide is a comprehensive guide to easy tariff classification according to the Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System in the South African Customs Union (Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland). Since the Harmonized System and the concept of tariff classification is international, users in other countries may also find the Guide a useful publication.

The Guide familiarises the reader with a background and overview of the Harmonized System and HS-based customs tariffs, with examples to highlight the operation of the SACU Tariff. The publication also deals with key concepts such as how to calculate and determine customs duty as well as on aspects and circumstances that have an impact on the level of duty payable. Assists the user to manage the landed cost of goods in international trade, determine customs (import) duty, additional duties, preferential rates in terms of trade agreements, rebates, refunds, drawbacks, etc. There is also a glossary to assist the reader and to provide a better understanding of certain international trade terms.

Visit the LexisNexis online catalogue at  https://store.lexisnexis.co.za/products/jacobsens-customs-tariff-guide-to-classification-skuZASKU060GDECLASSYS/details for more information about the Guide or to order the Guide to Classification.

 

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 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.

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.

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.

The International Trade Commission of South Africa (ITAC) also publishes Sunset Review Applications in relation to anti-dumping duty in terms of which any definitive anti-dumping duty will be terminated on a date not later than five years from the date of imposition, unless the International Trade Administration Commission determines, in a review initiated before that date on its own initiative or upon a duly substantiated request made by or on behalf of the domestic industry, that the expiry of the duty would likely lead to continuation or recurrence of dumping and material injury.

There were no applications to amend the SACU Tariff at the time of publication. The latest application was published in Government Gazette under List 02 of 2017.

The application was published in Government Gazette No. 40691 of 17 March 2017 in Notice No. 224 of 2017.

Comments were due by 13 April 2017.

Refer to the Jacobsens Customs Bulletin of 23 March 2017 for more information 

 

 

 

 

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 amendments to the Common External Tariff (CET) of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) at time of publication. The latest tariff amendments were published on 31 March 2017.

These amendments were forwarded to Jacobsens Subscribers under cover of Supplement 1088.

The amendments have been published in the Customs Watch which is also available on the Jacobsens website at www.jacobsens.co.za.

 

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.

There were no amendments to the Customs and Excise Rules at time of publication. The latest Rule amendment (DAR/166) was published in Government Gazette 40594 of 3 February 2017.

 

 

 

 

 

Contact Information:

 

Contact the Author:

Havandren Nadasan
Jacobsens Editor

Tel: 031-268 3510
e-mail to:
jacobsens@lexisnexis.co.za

 

Leon Marais
Independent Customs Consultant
Tel: 053-203 0727
e-mail to:
leon@itacs.co.za

 

LexisNexis

 

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