BREAKING NEWS - Bulgaria and Romania EU Members On 20 February 2009, the Republic of Bulgaria and the Republic of Romania were included as new member states of the European Union (EU) with retrospective effect from 01 January 2007. The retrospective introduction of these member states by the South African Revenue Service (Sars) means that refund of the customs duties (duty) can now be applied for. There are 27 EU member states while the European Free Trade Area (EFTA) has four, namely Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. This means that South Africa has a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with 31 European countries. If you are serious about your business you will need to find out who the 27 EU Member States are, whether you or your clients qualify for any refund of the duty, and if so make the necessary application. Finally, you should also consider just how big the EU can become. There are already a number of countries that have applied for accession to the EU. If you are interested in obtaining a copy of the Government Gazette notice, please send me an email titled “Bulgaria & Romania”. Rebate Items for Disposable Baby Diapers A notice appeared in respect of the amendment of existing Rebate Items, and the creation of new Rebate Items to “assist in aiding the competitiveness of the planned local production of disposable napkins for babies”. The product is known as disposable baby diapers. With effect from 20 February 2009 these amended and newly created Rebate Items will be operational. All interested parties wanting to utilise such Rebate Items should register with Sars. Customs Requirements FIFA 2010 World Cup If you read this on 27 February 2009, it means that there are 468 days left to the start of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. With the increased excitement, possibly due to the ticket sales having opened last week, much still needs to be done in a very short space of time. Possibly with this in mind Sars last week re-issued three documents which relate to Rebate Item 413.00 dealing with the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Rebate Item 413.00 is titled “Imported Goods Admitted Under Rebate of Duty for Sale, Consumption or Use in the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa When Imported and Entered by Qualifying Persons and Employees of Qualifying Persons”. The documents in question are: (i) External Standard Operating Procedure – Customs Requirements for the 210 FIFA World Cup in terms of Rebate Item 413.00; (ii) External Policy – Customs Requirements for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in terms of Rebate Item 413.00; and (iii) Guide for the Completion of Application Forms for Registration under Rebate Item 413.00. If you are interested in obtaining copies of these documents, please send me an email, titled “FIFA Rebate Item”. Trade Remedy Application – Final Opportunity Just a reminder that the comment in respect of the “Investigation into the Alleged Dumping of Staple Polyester Fibre Originating in or Imported from the People’s Republic of China” is due by 01 March 2009. The application was lodged by Hosaf, the only producer of staple polyester fibre in the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu). If you are affected by the investigation, or have an interest in it, you should arrange with the investigation officials to view the Public File. If you have never viewed the Public File you might well be surprised at the information that it contains.
