On 18 April 2011 SARS extended an invitation to all interested parties to comment on their Draft Customs Control Bill, which is 465 pages in length. This according to Sars constitutes the “Short Second Round for Comment”. Comment is due by 16 May 2011. The Draft Customs Control Bill consist of 39 Chapters, and 897 Sections. The Chapters are: • Chapter 1 – Interpretation, Application and Administration of this Act, • Chapter 2 - Customs Control, Places of Entry and Exit and Customs Controlled Areas, • Chapter 3 - Reporting Requirements for Inbound and Outbound Vessels, Aircraft, Trains, Buses, Trucks, Persons and Cargo, • Chapter 4 - Reporting Requirements for Domestic Vessels, • Chapter 5 - General Customs Principles Governing Goods not in Free Circulation, • Chapter 6 - Tax Status of Goods, • Chapter 7 - Standard Processes and Requirements for Clearance and Release of Goods, • Chapter 8 - National and International Transit, • Chapter 9 - Transhipment Procedure, • Chapter 10 - Home Use of Goods, • Chapter 11 - Temporary Admission Procedure, • Chapter 12 - Warehousing Procedure, • Chapter 13 - Tax Free Shop Procedure, • Chapter 14 - Stores Procedure, • Chapter 15 - Export Procedure, • Chapter 16 - Temporary Export Procedure, • Chapter 17 - Inward Processing Procedure, • Chapter 18 - Home Use Processing Procedure, • Chapter 19 - Outward Processing Procedure, • Chapter 20 - Customs Processing of Persons Entering or Leaving Republic, • Chapter 21 - International Postal Articles Handled by South African Post Office, • Chapter 22 - Access To and Sampling of Goods, • Chapter 23 - Expedited Clearance and Release of Goods, • Chapter 24 - Damaged, Destroyed, Lost or Unaccounted Goods, • Chapter 25 - Abandonment of Goods to Commissioner, • Chapter 26 - State Warehouses, • Chapter 27 – Registration, • Chapter 28 – Licensing, • Chapter 29 – Accreditation, • Chapter 30 - Security for Payment of Tax and Other Money Owed to Commissioner, • Chapter 31 - Recovery of Debt Due Under This Act, • Chapter 32 - General Enforcement Functions, • Chapter 33 - Detention, Seizure and Confiscation of Goods, • Chapter 34 - Prohibited, Restricted and Sectorally Controlled Goods, • Chapter 35 - Counterfeit Goods, • Chapter 36 - Reconsideration of Decisions and Dispute Resolution, • Chapter 37 - Administrative Penalties, • Chapter 38 - Judicial Matters, and • Chapter 39 - Miscellaneous Matters. Along with the Draft Customs Control 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 No, (viii) Office telephone No, (ix) Cellular telephone No, (x) Physical Address, (xi) Page No, (xii) Clause No, (xiii) Comment, and (xiv) Recommendation. Sars indicated that the Draft Customs Duty Bill would be released for comment in due course, and there would be an additional opportunity to provide comment on both draft Bills after 16 May 2011 as part of the Parliamentary process. If you are interested in obtaining a copy, please send a request via email.