Customs Valuation – Celebrating 30 Years On 13 April the World Customs Organisation (WCO) Technical Committee on Customs Valuation celebrated the 30th anniversary of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)/WTO Valuation Agreement. To mark the event delegates were invited to take stock of the agreement and examine the challenges it continues to pose to many Customs administrations in the modern international trading environment. It was recognised that the commercial world had changed radically over the past 30 years and that difficulties had arisen in the application of the agreement (which hasn’t changed over that period). Topics included obstacles to implementation of the agreement, the use of valuation databases, exchange of information, transfer pricing and the needs of the business sector. Rule Amendment – Tariff Quota The South African Revenue Service (Sars) has amended Rule 49A.26.04(a) to the Customs and Excise Act No.91 of 1964 (the Act) headed “Tariff Quotas”. The amendment reads as follows “Tariff quotas for imported goods are specified in Note IJ of the General Notes to Schedule No. 1 and are, as provided, allocated on a first-comefirst- served basis at the time of presentation of a valid bill of entry entering the goods for home consumption supported by the required proof of origin document, any permit from the National Department of Agriculture, if applicable, and an application for such quota.” The amendment only amends “Note I” to “Note IJ”. “Note IJ” of the General Notes to Schedule No.1 is headed “Goods Imported from the Commodity”, which refers to the 27-member European Union (EU). Tender – Large Cell Lithium-Ion Batteries The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) has extended a Request for Proposals to Conduct a Pre-Feasibility Study for the Manufacturing of Large Cell Lithium-Ion Batteries in South Africa. According to the tender, the IDC is seeking to appoint suitably qualified and experienced consultants for a study to investigate the viability of establishing a large cell lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant in South Africa through a proposed industrialisation partnership with Optimal Energy Innovation Group of South Korea. The tender closes at 12:00 on 19 May 2010. Marketing Of Agricultural Products In Government Gazettes dated 16 April 2010 the following notices were published in respect of the Marketing of Agricultural Products Act: (i) Marketing of Agricultural Products Act: Contribution of Statutory Measure: Registration of Bottlers, Grape Producers, Wine Exporters, Wine Producers and Wine Traders; (ii) Marketing of Agricultural Product Act: Continuation of Statutory Measure and Determination of Guideline Prices: Information Levy on Grapes, Grape Juice Concentrate, Drinking Wine; and (iii) Marketing of Agricultural Products Act: Establishment of Statutory Measure: Records and Returns relating to Vine, Grapes, Grape Juice, Grape Juice Concentrate, Drinking Wine, Distilling Wine and Wine Spirit.
