Advance rulings At the 55th session of the World Customs Organisation (WCO) Harmonised System Committee (HSC) meeting held at the WCO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, from 11-20 March it was agreed to draft technical guidelines on advance rulings for tariff classification, valuation and origin. As a matter of interest, the Customs Duty Act, 2014, which has yet to take effect, provides provision for ‘self-determination’, ‘determination’ and ‘re-determination’ for the three cornerstones in Chapter 6 ‘Tariff Classification of Goods’, 7 ‘Valuation of Goods’, and 8 ‘Origin’. Determination appeal In keeping with the topic, on 27 March 2015 the South African Revenue Service (Sars) announced the substitution in Rule 77H.07 of paragraph (b) to the Customs and Excise Act, 1964 of the following paragraph: “(b) An appeal against any tariff or valuation determination – (i) by an officer stationed at a branch office, may only be considered and decided by an authorised officer within the division responsible for the administration of the tariff and valuation section in head office; (ii) by an authorised officer employed within the division responsible for the administration of the tariff and valuation section, may only be considered and decided by the customs national appeal committee.” 55th HS Convention The HSC meeting of 11-20 March 2015 was attended by around 125 delegates representing 59 contracting parties to the HS Convention. The meeting took 785 classification decisions (including 751 decisions relating to pharmaceutical products in connection with the implementation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Trade in Pharmaceutical Products), adopted nine sets of amendments to the explanatory notes, and approved 16 new classification opinions. When approved by the WCO Council at the end of May 2015, these classification decisions will be published on the WCO website. Special Economic Zones On 20 March 2015 Sars announced the amendment of the Rules of Section 21A to the Act 1964 for the alignment with new Special Economic Zones (SEZ) legislation would be implemented at a later date. Coinciding with the publication of the rules, Trade and Industry Minister, Rob Davies, on the same day issued SEZ Regulations – made under section 41(1) of the Special Economic Zones Act, 2014 – for public comment, which is due by 30 April 2015. Duty Calls Watch List Comment on the Sunset Review on fresh or chilled garlic originating in or imported from the People’s Republic of China is due by 27 April 2015. The postponed 4th workshop on the draft rules for Chapters 32-41 of the Customs Control Act, 2014 is scheduled for 23 April 2015.
