WCO New HS Members On 12 June 2015 the World Customs Organisation (WCO) announced that Sierra Leone and Djibouti would become the 152nd and 153rd contracting parties to the Harmonised System (HS) Convention. On that date the two countries deposited with the secretary general of the WCO their instruments of accession to the International Convention on the Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System. More than 98% of international merchandise trade is classified in terms of the Harmonised System. Sierra Leone has been a member of the WCO since 6 November 1975. The country’s principal export commodities are diamonds, rutile, cocoa, coffee and fish. The country’s principal import commodities are foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, fuels and lubricants, and chemicals. Djibouti has been a member of the WCO since 19 March 2008. Its principal export commodities are hides and skins, coffee (in transit) and scrap metal. The country’s principal import commodities are foods, beverages, transport equipment, chemicals, petroleum products and clothing. The HS Convention will enter into force in Sierra Leone on 1 January 2017, unless Sierra Leone decides to specify an earlier date. Djibouti has specified that the HS Convention will enter into force in Djibouti on 1 September 2015. Revised Kyoto Convention The WCO announced on 17 June 2015 that the Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC), which entered into force on 3 February 2006, now has 101 contracting parties following the accession of Thailand and Sierra Leone. Then on 19 June 2015 the WCO announced Argentina as the 102nd contracting party to the RKC. Argentina’s federal administrator of public revenue, Ricardo Echegaray, deposited his country’s instrument of accession to the International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonisation of Customs Procedures of RKC on 19 June 2015. Duty Calls – Watch List Comment on the proposed amendment of General Note B 4 (duty assessment) to Schedule No 1 is due by 30 June 2015. The proposed review of the rebate item for plates, sheets, film, foil and strip of polymers of propylene, biaxially oriented, for the manufacture of selfadhesive tape is due by 31 July 2015. Comment on the creation of a rebate item for knitted pile fabrics for use in the manufacture of other home textiles; and the proposed reduction in the ‘general’ rate of customs duty on diesel, petrol and electric passenger vehicles is due by 17 July 2015. Comment on the possible termination of anti-dumping duties on blankets; bolts and nuts of iron or steel; polyethylene terephthalate (PET); and unframed glass mirrors, is due by 27 July 2015.
