Tyre Levy DA Forms
On 03 February the South
African Revenue Service
(Sars) announced the
amendment of forms DA178
and DA185.4B2 to the Rules
to the Customs and Excise
Act, 1964. These amendments
are as a consequence of the
amendment to rule 54F to
the Act that provides for an
environmental levy on tyres
which was announced by
the Minister of Finance in
his Budget Review on 24
February 2016.
The Customs forms are
introduced with retrospective
effect from 01 February 2017.
Nepal 107th RKC
Nepal acceded to the
Revised Kyoto Convention
(RKC) and became the
107th contracting party to a
convention which is regarded
by the entire international
customs community as
a blueprint for modern
customs in the 21st Century,
complementing countries’
efforts towards the ratification
and the implementation of
the World Trade Organisation
(WTO) agreement on Trade
Facilitation (TFA).
Interestingly, Nepal ratified
the WTO’s TFA on 24 January
2017, becoming the 108th
WTO member to do so.
Sudan WTO Member
The WTO members on 31
January expressed unanimous
support for the resumption of
Sudan’s WTO membership
negotiations at the third
meeting of the working party
on the country’s accession. It
is 13 years since its last formal
meeting.
TRIPS Amendment
On 30 January the WTO
Council for Trade-Related
Aspects of Intellectual
Property Rights (TRIPS) met
to mark the entry into force of
the first amendment to WTO
rules since its establishment.
The amendment secures a
legal pathway to ease access
to affordable medicines in
developing countries which
mostly rely on imports for
their medicinal needs.
Trade Transactions
Guide
The Banking Commission of
the International Chamber
of Commerce (ICC), The
Wolfsberg Group, and the
Bankers Association for
Finance and Trade (BAFT),
on 24 January jointly
announced the publication of
its Trade Finance Principles.
The guidance document
updates the 2011 edition
According to the ICC, the
collaborative effort will help
standardise the practice of
financial crimes compliance
for trade transactions.
If you are interested in
a copy, simply send us an
email with ‘Trade Finance
Principles’ in the subject line.
Customs Advancement
in 2017
The ICC has announced
three ways in which it
intends working, on behalf
of business, in 2017 to reduce
barriers to cross-border trade
and promote effective customs
policies and procedures
worldwide.
In the first instance,
developing export and import
excellence. On 14 February
the ICC will unveil its latest
online training certification
programme – Export/Import
Certification. The second,
building legal certainty
of ‘origin’. From 19 to 21
September the ICC will, at
its 10th World Chambers
Congress, hold a dedicated
session on certificates of
origin, within the confines of
the Free Trade Agreements
(FTA) and Authorised
Economic Operator (AEO)
schemes. Thirdly, the ICC
intends to continue to work
closely with the World
Customs Organisation
(WCO), through the Global
Alliance for Trade Facilitation,
to ensure the WTO TFA’s
successful implementation.
DUTY CALLS
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