DUTY CALLS

Trade Facilitation
Agreement
Whilst South Africa still
has to ratify the World
Trade Organisation
(WTO) Trade Facilitation
Agreement (TFA), Macao,
China on 11 April 2016,
became the latest – the
72nd – WTO member
to do so. In addition to
Macao the following
WTO members have also
accepted the TFA: Hong
Kong China, Singapore,
the United States,
Mauritius, Malaysia,
Japan, Australia,
Botswana, Trinidad and
Tobago, the Republic of
Korea, Nicaragua, Niger,
Belize, Switzerland,
Chinese Taipei, China,
Liechtenstein, Lao PDR,
New Zealand, Togo,
Thailand, the European
Union (its 28 member
states), the former
Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia, Pakistan,
Panama, Guyana, Côte
d’Ivoire, Grenada, Saint
Lucia, Kenya, Myanmar,
Norway, Viet Nam,
Brunei, Ukraine, Zambia,
Lesotho, Georgia,
Seychelles, Jamaica, Mali,
Cambodia, Paraguay and
Turkey.
The TFA will enter into
force once two thirds of
the WTO membership has
formally accepted it.
Aviation Security
and Facilitation
The World Customs
Organisation (WCO)
attended the Ministerial
Conference on
Aviation Security and
Facilitation in Africa,
jointly organised by the
Government of Namibia
and the International Civil
Aviation Organisation
(Icao), in collaboration
with the African Union
Commission (AUC)
through the African Civil
Aviation Commission
(AFCAC).
The conference, hosted
in Windhoek, Namibia
from 6-7 April, adopted
a ministerial declaration
and targets on air cargo
security and facilitation
for Africa.
Public Disclosure of
Tax Data
On 14 April the
International Chamber
of Commerce (ICC)
responded to the European
Commission’s (EC)
latest proposal for public
disclosure of tax data by
highlighting a number of
potential concerns, for
example that it would
require multinational
companies to publicly
disclose their earnings and
tax bills in the European
Union (EU). It requires
reporting on seven data
points that will be put into
public registers, namely:
taxes paid, taxes due, pretax
profit, revenue, number
of employees, business
profile and accumulated
earnings.
The ICC expressed
concern about the broader
economic impact of this
proposal and fears that the
diverging measures could
hamper global efforts
to establish a consistent
international landscape.
The ICC also questioned
the cost impact of the new
proposals and the potential
for such measures to
inadvertently undermine
the relationship between
tax administrations and
tax payers.
Duty Calls Watch List
Comment on the proposed
tariff subheadings for
fruit not containing any
added sugar or sweetening
matter, including the
proposed zero rated supply
of fruit under the Valueadded
Tax (VAT) Act, is
due by 25 April 2016.