DUTY CALLS

COMMENTS ON HS2012
INVITED
On 07 October 2011 the
South African Revenue
Service (Sars) published its
Draft HS2012 documents.
We have for the past few
months been alerting you to
the proposed changes to the
South African Harmonised
Customs and Excise Tariff,
and also informed you of
the proposed international
amendments.
The notice reads as
follows:
01 January 2012 marks
the implementation of
the 2012 version of the
Harmonised System
(HS) Nomenclature.
The amendments in
HS 2012 represent the
recommendations of the
Customs Co-operation
Council adopted by the
Customs Cooperation
Council (commonly known
as the World Customs
Organisation or the WCO)
on 26 June 2009.
As a signatory to the
HS Convention, South
Africa will implement the
amendments to the HS 2012,
in terms of section 48(1)(c)
of the Customs and Excise
Act, 1964 (the Act), with
effect from 01 January 2012.
This is the fourth major
revision of the HS since
it was approved by the
Customs Co-operation
Council in 1983 and
includes, on an international
level, 220 sets of
amendments.
The main sources of
these amendments are (i)
Environmental and social
issues of global concern, in
particular the classification
and coding of goods of
specific importance to
food security and the early
warning data system of the
United Nations’ Food and
Agriculture Organisation
(FAO). (ii) New subheadings
have been created for
separate identification of
certain edible vegetables,
roots and tubers, fruit and
nuts, as well as cereals. (iii)
New subheadings have also
been created for specific
chemicals controlled under
the Rotterdam Convention
and ozone-depleting
substances controlled under
the Montreal Protocol.
(iv) Amendments that
resulted from changes in
international trade patterns,
such as the deletion of more
than 40 subheadings due
to the low volume in trade,
separate identification
of certain commodities
in either existing or
new headings, some
advancements in technology
and amendments aimed at
the clarification of text to
ensure uniform application
of the HS Nomenclature
The HS 2012 amendments
and correlation table up to a
6-digit level can be viewed
on the WCO website. The
following documents relate
to the amendments for HS
2012: (i) Draft amendment
of Part 1 of Schedule No.
1 (01 January 2012) – This
document contains inter alia
the recommendations made
by the WCO Council on a
6-digit level, as well as the
consequential amendments
on a national (8-digit) level
(South Africa specific). (ii)
Draft amendments of other
Schedules (January 2012)
– These documents contain
inter alia consequential
amendments as a result of
the HS 2012 amendment
implemented in Part 1 of
Schedule No.1 to the Act.
(iii) Correlation table – The
correlation table serves as
a guide to assist with the
transposition of goods,
on national level, as a
result of the HS 2012. (iv)
Explanatory Memorandum
– This document elaborates
on specific changes included
in the amendments of the
Schedules to the Act such
as the phase-down of duties
in terms of agreements,
technical amendments, etc.
Comments are due by
07 November 2011.