A weekly summary of the main changes to the South African tariff dispensation and amendments to customs and excise legislation. Compiled by Riaan de Lange. E-mail: riaan.de.lange@za.pwc.com PricewaterhouseCoopers Customs & International Trade (CIT) consultancy Taxation Laws Amendment Act of 2004 On 28 July 2004 the South African Revenue Service (SARS) published the Taxation Laws Amendment Act (Amendment Act), 2004 for public information. The Customs and Excise Act amendments contained in the Amendment Act formalise those proposed in the Draft Revenue Laws Amendment Bill that was detailed in an earlier column. No Rule Amendment - 30 July No Tariff Amendments - 30 July Tariff Application - Response due Reduction of the customs duty (duty) on used pneumatic tyres from 25% ad valorem to free of duty. In support of the application the applicant, Retail Motor Industry, submitted the following reasons: The volumes of used pneumatic tyres from the SACU industry are not sufficient to meet the demand of the retread tyre market; There is no need for 25% ad valorem duty on this tariff subheading, given that there is an import control measure in place, which allows for the importation of used tyres by bona fide retreaders only. Response due by 27 August 2004. Anti-dumping Amendments - 30 July The anti-dumping duty on blankets (excluding electric blankets), of acrylic fibres originating in or imported from Hong Kong, India, and the Republic of Korea are withdrawn with retrospective effect to 18 June 2004. Anti-dumping Applications - Response due Notice of the initiation of a sunset review of the anti-dumping duties on carbon black originating in or imported from Egypt and India. The application was lodged by Algorax (Pty) Ltd the manufacturer of the product in the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) Notice of the initiation of an exporter (interim) review of the anti-dumping duties on carbon black originating in or imported from Egypt. The application was lodged by Alexandria Carbon Black Co. S.A.E., from Alexandria in Egypt, a manufacturer of the product in Egypt. Notice of the initiation of a sunset review of the anti-dumping duties on nuts of iron or steel originating in or imported from Chinese Taipei and the People’s Republic of China (China) and bolts and nuts of iron or steel originating in or imported from China. The application was lodged by the South African Fasteners Manufacturers Association (SAFMA). Response due by 23 August 2004.
