Delays inevitable for new customs legislation

Despite several delays and
postponements, there’s widespread
industry support for South African
Revenue Service’s consultative
approach to the new customs
legislation.
The legislation, enacted but not yet
active, has been twelve years in the
making.
“That may sound like an extremely
long time – but when you look at these
three acts, a body
of work with more
than 1000 sections
of legislation, then
you realise it is a
massive task that is
incredibly complex,”
said Quintus van der
Merwe, a partner at
Shepstone & Wylie.
“Legislation takes
time. It is a slow and
tedious process. That
is its nature.”
Customs experts approached by
FTW agreed.
“The complexity and wide impact
of the new legislation has resulted
in many unintended consequences,
which need on-going consultation,”
said Pat Corbin, director ICC-SA and
former president of the JCCI. “The
impact and lack of certainty at this
stage is unfortunate but preferable
to having to revert in future to a
‘fallback’ situation.”
Sars is hoping to complete the
commentary and final drafting of the
rules that guide the new legislation
this year. This process has been
ongoing for the past two years with
several delays and postponements.
According to Van der Merwe this is
not out of the ordinary.
“One has to take into account how
many commentators there are and
that a legislative process has to
be followed. It is not always
possible to keep to the
initial deadlines
“Sars cannot ignore or
disregard the comments
simply because they are
not fitting into a time
frame. They have to
follow due process
and take into account
what is brought to
their attention. They
simply have no choice
in such a case but to
extend the deadlines.”
Mike Walwyn of
the South African
Association of
Freight Forwarders
(Saaff) said it was important to
acknowledge that it was a near
impossible task to estimate up front
exactly how long this entire process
would take.
“The devil is in the detail,” he told
FTW. “The acts in themselves are
fairly meaningless if we don’t know
what’s in the rules, and that’s what the
whole commentary/workshopping/
consultation process has been about.
As far as that goes, I think Sars has
been very accommodating in terms of
consulting with all role
players.”
According to Clifford
Evans who has been
involved in the draft
rules commentary
process, it is to
industry’s advantage
to have the legislation
delayed rather than
implemented without
having been thoroughly
investigated and
discussed.
Customs expert Jean
Pool agreed, saying while it had taken
a long time and several timelines had
been extended, it would ultimately
allow for fewer penalties and fewer
problems when finally implemented.
“The task Sars has set for itself is
indeed an enormous one, requiring
multiple and substantial system
developments to realise the lofty ideals
set by these customs acts,” he said.
Evans said he did not foresee the
new legislation coming into effect
before 2018 even
though certain
processes such
as registration
might start in
the next few
months.”
CAPTION
Legislation takes
time. It is a slow and
tedious process. That
is its nature.
– Quintus van der Merwe