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Customs News Bulletin

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18 May 2017

 

 

Latest News

SARS RELEASE CUSTOMS SUFFICIENT KNOWLEDGE POLICY

All customs clients have to re-apply for registration and licensing under the new legislation which has yet to become effective. 

It is a requirement under the Customs Control Act that customs clients be assessed to determine whether or not they have "sufficient knowledge" in relation to customs laws, guides, interpretive notes, operational manuals and practices and they must achieve a score of at least 60 per cent in the Customs Sufficient Knowledge Test or Customs Competency Assessment for Accreditation before registration, licensing and accreditation (RLA) by SA Revenue Service can begin.

The "Customs Sufficient Knowledge Test" is defined in Chapter 1 of the draft Rules to the Customs Control Act. The definition has been moved from Chapters 28 and 29 of the Customs Control Act to Chapter 1 of the draft Rules.

The test is referred to in  (draft) rule 28.25 and rule 29.42 to establish whether a person has sufficient knowledge of applicable customs laws, guides, interpretive notes, operational manuals and practices –

(a) administered by –

(i) the customs authority; or

(ii) a recognised professional body for the purposes of the National Qualifications Framework Act, 2008 (Act No. 67 of 2008), with the permission of the customs authority and subject to such conditions as the customs authority may determine; and

(b) the details of which are available on the SARS website or the website of that professional body. 

The purpose of this requirement is to ensure that any registered or licensed customs client has sufficient knowledge of customs and excise law.

Paragraph 2.5 of the SARS Customs Sufficient External Policy C-LR-02 dated 15 May 2017 makes it clear that the Customs Sufficient Knowledge (CSK) Test will be an open book test.

The nominee must arrive 30 minutes prior to the test for authentication purposes. The nominee may bring a copy of the Act and the Rules for the purposes of the open book CSK test.

The nominee will be allocated two hours to complete the test, which will be a questionnaire of fifty (50) questions across the spectrum of the Chapters applicable to the client type. Unsuccessful clients may retake the test without a restriction on the number of times. The competency certificate which is issued to successful candidates is valid for a period of three years. The nominee must rebook a CSK test ninety days prior to the expiry date of the certificate.

A Preferred Trader Competency Assessment is also a requirement for those traders who have been approved for the Preferred Trader Programme - after they have been audited. Participation in the PT Competency Assessment is by invitation only.

The PT Competency Assessment is based on the current SARS Legislation (the Customs and Excise Act No. 91 of 1964 and the Rules) thereto. The Competency Test will also be an open book test but according to SARS there is no information on when tests will be taken off.

 

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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