SEZ rule On 11 November 2014 the South African Revenue Service (Sars) published draft Rules 21A to the Customs and Excise Act No.91 to 1964 (Provisions for the administration of customs controlled areas within industrial development zones) for comment by 28 November 2014. The notification contained a brief explanation which read: “The draft rules relate to the substitution in the rules for section 21A of Industrial Development Zone (IDZ) for Special Economic Zones (SEZ)”. Our analysis of the draft amendments identified, amongst others, certain omissions. Should you be interested in our analysis, simply send us an email, with “SEZ rule” as the subject. Public officer rule Sars on 14 November 2014 published draft Rule 59A to the Act (Registration of persons participating in activities regulated by the Act) for comment by 28 November 2014. The draft amendment proposes that a public officer appointed by the company and approved by Sars, in terms of section 246 (Public officers of companies) of the Tax Administration Act, 2011, may apply for registration on behalf of a company if duly authorised by that company. Should you be interested in our analysis, simply send us an email with “Public officer rule” as the subject. Tariff Chapter 99 On 14 November 2014 Sars published draft tariff amendments in Tariff Chapter 99 in Part 1 of Schedule No 1 to the Act (Personal and Household Effects) for comment by 28 November 2014. This draft amendment proposes the insertion of Additional Notes 9 and 10 in Chapter 99; the substitution of the descriptions of tariff subheadings 9999.00.10 and 9999.00.20; and the insertion of “kg” as the statistical unit. The draft amendment will ensure that personal and household effects, new or used, can be either imported or exported under the same commodity code in Schedule No 4 to the Act (General Rebates of Customs Duties, Fuel Levy and Environmental Levy). Tariff Chapter 99 is a South African specific Tariff Chapter, along with Tariff Chapter 98 “Original Equipment Components” or OEC – the tariff for the motor industry. Should you be interested in our analysis, simply send us an email with “Tariff Chapter 99” as the subject. WTO TBT notifications Interested in receiving the weekly “Early Warning System for WTO/TBT Notifications”? Simply contact Ronel Greyvenstein, WTO/TBT enquiry officer at the SABS, at ronel. greyvenstein@sabs.co.za. This week’s Customs Buzz contains the latest weekly notifications. Tariff amendments There were no tariff amendments (including trade remedy amendments) for the week ending 14 November 2014. The last amendment was published on 10 October 2014. Trade applications The last tariff application was published on 22 August 2014 and the last trade remedy application on 19 September 2014. Duty Calls’ Watch List The publication of the 2015 Customs tariff amendments is expected by 29 November 2014. The anticipated application for an increase in the “General” rate of customs duty on tariff subheadings 7210.41; 7210.49, 7212.30, 7210.61, 7210.90, 7225.99.90, 7210.70 and 7212.40.
