Refunds and Drawbacks Letter of Authority The South African Revenue Service (Sars) has released a letter titled “Letter of Authority In Respect of General Refund/Drawback Applications”, which reads as follows: A letter of authority from the importer is a requirement in terms of Section 100 of the Customs and Excise Act (“Agent may be called upon to produce written authority”) when an agent, consultant, etc applies on his/her behalf for a refund/ drawback. This authority may not be transferred to a third party (another agent, consultant, etc). The letter of authority must be on the importer’s letterhead and specifically refer to the type of authority given i.e. the specific declaration number(s), date and place of entry. Please refer to the External Policy – Customs Refunds and Drawbacks. No general letters will be accepted in an effort to reduce the opportunity for fraudulent claims purported to be submitted on behalf of an importer. In the case of a single refund application the original letter of authority must be attached to page 2 of the Refund Application form. Where the importer has provided a letter of authority for multiple refund applications this must be stated on the letter with the time period of the refund applications handled. The agent/consultant must retain the original and produce it when requested to do so. Certified copies of the original letter must be submitted with each claim. Rebate Item Warp and Knitted Fabrics Comment in respect of the proposed amendment of Rebate Item 311.12/60.05/01.04 and Rebate Item 311.12/60.06/01.01 used by industry manufacturing coated covered, impregnated or laminated textile fabrics, to be subject to a permit system administered by the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (Itac) is due today, 20 August 2010. Duty Reduction Medical Glass Ampoules Comment in respect of the proposed reduction in the rate of customs duty on medical glass ampoules, classifiable under tariff subheading 7010.10, from 10% ad valorem to free of customs duty is due today, 20 August 2010. Sunset Review Polyethylene Terephthalate This is a mid investigation notification and serves to remind you of the initiation of the sunset review of the anti-dumping duties on polyethylene terephthalate (PET), classifiable under tariff subheading 3907.60, originating in or imported from India, South Korea (Korea) and Chinese Taipei (Taiwan). Comment is due by 30 August 2010. Sars’ Customs Modernisation Programme The first of the key modernisation initiatives is the “Electronic Supporting Documents”. Here Sars will be extending the facility for traders to electronically submit any supporting document required by customs for the finalisation of a transaction or case. Sars has indicated that various third party software providers will be offering tailored facilities within their applications to facilitate this requirement as an integral part of their solutions. This is expected to contribute greatly towards reducing paper overload and the burden on the trader or broker to physically deliver them to Sars.
