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Customs News Bulletin

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25 August 2017

 

 

Latest News

MINISTER GIGABA APPROVES VARIOUS AMENDMENTS TO THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN CUSTOMS UNION TARIFF

Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba signed various notices to give effect to the recommendations of the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC) and requests of the Minister of Trade and Industry, Minister Rob Davies in respect of dairy spreads, certain extracted oleoresins, certain goods vehicles with an engine capacity not exceeding 1000 cm³ and gas stoves.

Provision is also made for dumpers for off-highway use of less than 50 tons under the APDP programme as recommended in ITAC Minute M07/2016.

The parts of the tariff dealing with normal customs duties (Part 1 of Schedule No. 1), Section B of Part 2 of Schedule No. 1 (ad valorem excise duties), carbon dioxide emissions tax (environmental levy) on certain motor vehicles (Section E of Part 3 of Schedule No. 1) and industrial rebates (Part 1 of Schedule No. 3) were affected by these amendments.

The duty structure of dairy spreads and certain oleoresins were adjusted to the WTO bound rate, the wording of tariff subheading 8704.21.75 were amended which resulted in consequential amendments to Schedule 1 Part 2B and Schedule 1 Part 3E of the Customs and Excise Act No. 91 of 1964 and the rates of duty on gas stoves were increased from 15% to 30%. The notices were published in the Government Gazette of 25 August 2017.

 

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 notices regarding the applications to the amendment of the SACU CET at time of publication.  The last notices were published in Government Gazette No. 40998 of 21 July 2017.

The Notice numbers were Notice 546 of 2017 and Notice 547 of 2017.

Refer to the Bulletin of 28 July 2017 for more information about these Notices. 

 

 

 

 

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 have been various amendments to the Customs Tariff of the Southern African Customs Union. These amendments were published in the Government Gazette of 25 August 2017. Refer to the main article in this Bulletin.

Refer to the Jacobsens Customs Watch of 25 August 2017 for more information.

The loose-leaf pages to amend the Jacobsens Harmonized Customs Tariff will be sent to Jacobsens subscribers under cover of Supplement 1092. The publications details are not available yet, but will be provided in the subscribers notice to Supplement 1092.

 

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 Rules to the Customs and Excise Act, 1964 at time of publication. The last Rule amendment (DAR/168) was published in Government Gazette 40486 of 19 May 2017.

 

 

 

 

 

Contact Information:

 

 

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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