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 Pricewaterhouse Coopers Customs & International Trade (CIT) consultancy Revenue Laws Amendment Bill, 2004 On 1 October 2004, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) published the Revenue Laws Amendment Bill, 2004 for public comment. Over the next few weeks we will be dealing with the proposed changes to the Customs & Excise Act 91 of 1964. The interesting proposed changes that will be detailed will include the storage of customs duty (duty) free goods in a special customs and excise warehouse, as well as proposed changes to the claim period in respect of drawback and refund claims. No Rule Amendments - 15 and 8 October No Tariff Amendments - 15 October Tariff Amendments - 8 October The general rate of duty and the European Union (EU) rate of duty on maize and corn flour, classifiable under tariff subheadings 1005.10, 1005.90 and 1102.20, have been increased from free of duty to 3,168c/kg and 4,750c/kg respectively. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) rate of duty on maize and maize and corn flour remains unchanged at free of duty. The general, EU and SADC rates of duty on sugar, classifiable under tariff subheading 1701.11, 1701.12, 1701.91 and 7101,99, are reduced from 71.8c/kg to 55.0c/kg. Tariff Applications - Response due Review of the duty structure on tariff headings 72.08, 72.09, 72.10, 72.11, 72.12, 72.13, 72.14, 72.15, 72.16, 72.17, 72.25, 72.26, 72.27, 72.28, 72.29 and stainless steel products classifiable under tariff headings 72.19 and 72.20 from 5% ad valorem to free of duty. The reason for the application is that the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC) decided to investigate the duty structure of iron and steel products, classifiable under Chapter 72, with the intention of inter alia looking at the effect of downstream manufacturing. Response due by 12 November 2004. Reduction of the duty on air springs, classifiable under tariff subheading 8716.90 and 8708.99.90, from 15% ad valorem and 20% ad valorem respectively to free of duty. The application was lodged by BPW Axles (Pty) Ltd who stated that there are no Southern African Customs Union (SACU) manufacturers of air springs and the duty payable is increasing the already high cost to import the product. Response due by 22 October 2004. Anti-dumping Amendments - 15 October The provision for an anti-dumping duty on collared hexagon nuts of iron or steel (excluding dome nuts, nuts with non-metalic inserts, nuts of stainless steel, nuts identifiable for use solely or principally on aircraft and collared nuts), of a thread diameter of 6mm or more, but not exceeding 36mm (excluding self-locking nuts of a thread diameter exceeding 10mm) 215.02/7318.16/02.06, imported from or originating in Australia is withdrawn with retrospective effect to 6 August 2004. Anti-dumping Applications - No Response Due
