On 20 May 2011 the South African Revenue Service (Sars) invited all interested parties to comment on their Draft Customs Duty Bill which is 143 pages in length. This according to Sars constitutes the “Short Second Round for Comment”. Comment is due by 06 June 2011. You will no doubt recall that on 18 April 2011 Sars extended an invitation to all interested parties to comment on its Draft Customs Control Bill, which is 465 pages in length. The Draft constituted the “Short Second Round for Comment”, for which comment was due by 16 May 2011. By way of a reminder, the Draft Customs Control Bill consists of 39 Chapters, and 897 Sections, whilst the Draft Customs Duty Bill consist of 14 Chapters, and 45 Sections. The Chapters are: Chapter 1 – Interpretation, Application and Administration of this Act; Chapter 2 – Customs Tariff; Chapter 3 – Payment of Duties, Penalties and Interest; Chapter 4 – Refunds and Drawbacks; Chapter 5 – Assessment of Duties; Chapter 6 – Tariff Classification of Goods; Chapter 7 – Valuation of Goods; Chapter 8 – Origin; Chapter 9 – Preferential Tariff Treatment; Chapter 10 – Advance Rulings; Chapter 11 – Voluntary Disclosure Relief; Chapter 12 – Administrative Penalties; Chapter 13 – Judicial Matters; and Chapter 14 – Miscellaneous Matters Along with the Draft Customs Duty Bill, SARS also released a “Comment Sheet Template” that needs to be completed. The Comment Sheet requires an interested party to provide the following information: (i) Number of pages of comments; (ii) Date; (iii) Comments from; (iv) Designation; (v) Company / Institution / Department; (vi) Email address; (vii) Facsimile Number; (viii) Office telephone Number; (ix) Cellular telephone Number; (x) Physical Address; (xi) Page Number; (xii) Clause Number; (xiii) Comment; and (xiv) Recommendation. SARS indicated that there will be an additional opportunity to provide comment on the Customs Duty Bill after 06 June 2011 as part of the Parliamentary process.
