IN AN interview with FTW, Stoffel van Rensburg from the policy and procedures division at SA Revenue Service (Sars) clarified certain details in our recent article about the issue of certificates of origin in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Readers should not get the impression that the issue of SADC certificates of origin by Sars is new, Van Rensburg said. “The department of trade and industry delegated to customs the verification procedure for SADC preferential origin in September 2000.” It basically means that any goods traded between SA and members of the SADC outside of the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu) will only get preferential status if they are accompanied by an SADC certificate of origin. Van Rensburg noted that it was the DA 185 form – the document submitted when an exporter applies for a certificate of origin – that had been changed. Exporters will not need to amend their status in terms of their customs code number by completing the new annexures to the DA185 as a result of the change, he told FTW. However, any new applicants must apply for registration on the new forms. The SADC certificate of origin, a chamber of Customs clarifies DA185 issue commerce source added, is similar to the EUR1 – the certificate issued for exports to the European Union (EU), and also only available from Sars. Meantime, Form A – the document issued by the chambers for certain trade arrangements – is also available from Sars for exports to the EU, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey. If you want to download an example of the latest version of the DA185, and the required annexures for exporters and producers for the SADC, according to information released by the Maputo Corridor Logistics Initiative (MCLI), logon to: http://www.sars. gov.za/ce/registration/ Registration%20main.htm
