Proposed Draft Tariff Amendments On 02 November the South African Revenue Service (Sars) published draft tariff amendments to the Schedules to the Customs and Excise Act (the Act): (i) Schedule No.1 Part 1 to the Act – with effect from 01 January 2013; (ii) Schedule No.1 Part 2B to the Act – with retrospective effect from 01 July 2012; (iii) Schedule No. 3 to the Act - with retrospective effect from 09 April 2010; (iv) Schedule No. 3 to the Act – with effect from 1 January 2012; (v) Schedule No. 4 to the Act – with retrospective effect from 01 January 2012; (vi) Schedule No. 4 to the Act – with effect from 01 January 2013; and (vii) Schedule No. 5 to the Act – with effect from 01 January 2013. The proposed tariff amendments are too numerous to address in this column as they cover a range of tariff subheadings across the Schedule of the Tariff Book (Schedules to the Act.) Comment is due by 15 November 2012. Proposed Rebate Item Amendment On 01 November Sars published a draft notice to propose an amendment to the description of Refund Item 536.00/00.00/01.00 in Schedule No. 5 Part 3 to the Act. The Rebate Item relates to automotive components of Tariff Chapter 98. Comment is due by 14 November 2012. Iranian Customs Agreement Sars announced on 01 November the Customs Agreement on Mutual Administrative Assistance with Iran, which entered into force with retrospective effect to 01 August 2012 Dissemination of Trade Data Policy Sars issued an “External Policy – Dissemination of Trade Data” on 26 October 2012. According to the “Scope” of the document: (a) This policy applies to the dissemination of trade data on an ad hoc basis and to subscribed registrants, as well as the applicable rates payable, in order to acquire such data. (b) Business Systems referred to in this policy from which trade data must be extracted are the: (i) Customs and Excise Information System (CEI); (ii) Customs and Excise Statistics Subsystem (CES); and (iii) Statistics Subscriber System (SUB). (c) This policy does not apply to trade data deemed confidential by the Trade Statistics Division or normal queries regarding trade statistics. (d) Trade data refers to import and export figures, typically: (i) Quantity; (ii) Value; (iii) Tariff headings; (iv) Country of origin; and / or (v) Country of destination. Labelling of Israeli Goods Comment is due by 12 November 2012 in respect of the “Labelling of Goods Originating from Israeli Occupied Territory Wrongly Labelled as originating from Israel in terms of Section 24 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2008 (Act No.68 of 2008)”. The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies, informed in the notice that he intended to issue a notice prescribing information requiring an importer, producer, retailer or supplier in South Africa, to label goods that originate from the Israeli Occupied Territory – namely East Jerusalem, Gaza and West Bank – as goods originating from the Israeli Occupied Territory. Goods originating from the Israeli Occupied Territory must not be labelled as goods originating from Israel.
