Rules to the Customs & Excise Act For many years it has been extremely difficult to get hold of the collective Rules to the Customs and Excise Act, No.91 of 1964 (the Act). The amendments to the Rules to the Act are published in the Government Gazette on an ad hoc basis, but the Rules in their totality were not available free of charge. This however changed on 9 June. The South African Revenue Service (Sars) published the combined version of the Customs and Excise Rules, 1995 (as amended) including amendments up to 02 May 2014, all of 724 pages, as well as the 22-page combined version of the Schedule to the Customs and Excise Rules, 1995 (excluding the forms). According to Sars, the Rules to the Act have been added for ease of information and must be read subject to the Rule amendments notices published in the Government Gazette. Sars also published the Rule Amendments for each year from 2000 to 2014. As a consequence of the publication you now have free access to the Act, the Rules to the Act and the Schedules to the Act. Now we only await the publication of the Customs and Excise forms (with some exception the DA forms). Though some of the forms are available, it would be great if all forms were available on the Sars website. NEMO Found South Africa is a maritime nation with jurisdiction over one of the largest exclusive economic zones in the world. Our ocean space is a resourcerich and relatively pristine environment. The ocean represents a significant asset for current and future generations of South Africans. The use of various marine resources in our ocean space has increased over time and there remains significant potential for the unlocking of further economic development opportunities. As such South Africa needs to continuously balance the economic opportunities which our ocean space affords us while maintaining its environmental integrity. The challenge for South Africa is how best to encourage research, investment and use of our ocean resources in order to contribute to job creation and economic upliftment while at the same time protecting the ocean asset for present and future generations. This from the Executive Summary of the Department of Environmental Affairs’ 25-page White Paper on National Environmental Management of the Ocean known as NEMO, gazetted for implementation on 29 May 2014. Duty Calls Watch List Comment on the following is due by 30 June 2014. The draft interpretation note on the supply of goods and services by professional foreign hunters, and the registration as Valueadded Tax (VAT) vendors. The carbon offsets paper and the review of the taxation of alcoholic beverages in South Africa. Comment is due by 20 June 2014 on the proposed increase in the rate of customs duty on paper and paperboard coated, impregnated or covered with plastic; and other paper, paperboard, cellulose fibres by creation of additional 8-digit tariff subheadings.
