Preferred Trader Competency Assessment In a letter dated 09 November titled “Customs Preferred Trader Accreditation: Competency Assessment”, Sars announced competency assessments that would be conducted during the latter part of November 2012. The letter reads: The South African Revenue Service has introduced a tiered approach to accreditation of which the Preferred Trader is the second level. Rules under Section 64E were promulgated in Government Gazette no. 34498 on 29 July 2012. Section 64E.13 stipulates that to be eligible for level two accreditation the person employed by the applicant who will be responsible for Customs matters must, before being employed in that capacity, first demonstrate sufficient knowledge of Customs and Excise laws. To this end competency assessment will be conducted within the latter part of November 2012. Nominated individuals will be invited in individual stakeholder communications. All impacted staff must be informed of the assessments that will be conducted. 01 January 2013 Tariff Amendments The South African Revenue Service (Sars) published draft tariff amendments, proposing amendments across the Schedules to the Customs and Excise Act (the Act), on which comment was due by 15 November 2012. The amendments to Schedule No.1 Part of the Act – “Ordinary Customs Duty” – pertain to 1 deletion, 1 018 substitutions, and 22 insertions. It includes, amongst others, the phase-down of the rates of customs duty in terms of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) concluded with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). The reduction in the rates of customs duty on paper and paperboard, classifiable under Tariff Chapter 48, in terms of recommendations made by the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (Itac) in its Report No.151. Sars also advised of technical amendments to the Schedules to the Act, which include additional tariff subheadings to Schedule No.1 Part 1 relating to biaxially oriented polymers of propylene (BOPP) classifiable under tariff subheading 3920.20; the creation of specific tariff subheadings for LED lamps and other lighting fittings incorporating LEDs classifiable in tariff subheadings 9405.40.19 and 9405.40.21; and the creation of tariff subheadings for men’s and women’s trousers of denim fabrics, as well as embroidered bed and table linen, classifiable under tariff headings 6204 and 6302. The amendments to Schedule No. 4 to the Act – General Rebates of Customs Duties, Fuel Levy and Environmental Levy – relate to the deletion of rebate provisions for the 2010 Fifa World Cup, as well as to the deletion of rebate provisions in terms of the Textile and Clothing Industry Development Programme (TCIDP). The same Schedule is also proposed to be amended with items and notes in terms of the exchange letters between South Africa and the People’s Republic of China on the construction of an agricultural technical demonstration centre that had expired and therefore had to be deleted. The amendments to Rebate Item 537.02/87.00/01.02 in Schedule No, 5 to the Act – Specific Drawbacks and Refunds of Customs Duties, Fuel Levy and Environmental Levy – are amended to align it with the HS2012. Duty Call’s Watch List Comment due by 23 November on the proposed increase in the rate of customs duty on taps and mixers; and the proposed reduction in the rate of customs duty on polyether polyols.
