If you are reading this column on 6 July 2011, there are only 177 days before amendments are introduced to the Harmonised System Nomenclature, also known as the South African Tariff Book. Every five years there are significant changes to the Harmonised System Nomenclature, also known as the HS. Recommendation for the proposed amendments were first published more than two years ago – 26 June 2009. By way of background, the proposed amendments, referred to the World Customs Organisation (WCO) as a “Recommendation”, are the fifth since the WCO Council approved the Harmonised Systems Convention in 1983. South Africa introduced the HS on 01 January 1988. The current Recommendation includes 220 sets of amendments, divided as follows: (i) Agricultural sector – 98; (ii) Chemical sector – 27; (iii) Paper sector – 9; (iv) Textile sector – 14; (v) Base Metal sector – 5; (vi) Machinery sector – 30; and (vii) Other sectors – 37. In preparing for the proposed amendments, you need to study the documentation which has been available in South Africa since 26 June 2009. Before a Government Gazette notice is published, a lot of work needs to be completed to account for the impact of the proposed tariff amendments across all the Schedules to the Customs and Excise Act (the Act). The main sources of the amendments to the HS are (i) Technological Progress; (ii) Trade Patterns; (iii) Clarification of texts to ensure uniform application of the HS; and (iv) Adaption of the HS to reflect trade practices. Over the next few weeks we will address the amendments.
