SEZ Regulation Comment On 14 July the Trade and Industry Ministry published its draft Special Economic Zones (SEZ) Governance and Management Regulations, in terms of the Act 2014, on which comment is due by 13 August. ICC’s new Open Markets Index Despite repeated pledges to enable trade as a driver of growth and job creation, G20 economies are failing to demonstrate global leadership on trade openness according to the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Open Markets Index 2017 (OMI) published on 7 July. The report – commissioned by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) – shows that G20 nations rank below the global standard in terms of openness to trade, with only Canada placing among the world’s top 20 open markets. Singapore, Luxembourg and Hong Kong SAR head the 2017 rankings for the fourth successive edition of the report, far outstripping major economies such as the United States in terms of trade openness. The Index scores 75 countries on a scale of one to six on four key factors: observed trade openness, trade policy, openness to foreign direct investment and trade-enabling infrastructure. In doing so, the index also monitors government follow-through on longstanding G20 commitments to boost global trade flows. Scoring the G20 – room for improvement The latest edition of the Index reveals that 18 of the G20 economies score only average or below average in terms of their overall openness to trade. The two lowest-scoring G20 economies are Brazil and Argentina. Other findings The latest edition of the index reveals that: (i) three economies ranked as ‘excellent’ in terms of overall openness (scoring above 5.0), specifically Hong Kong, Luxembourg and Singapore; and that (ii) the lowest ranking economies were Ethiopia, Venezuela and Sudan. ICC is calling on the G20 to commit to a package of reforms to enable trade as a driver of growth, jobs and opportunity. In addition to the index, ICC has published detailed profiles for the 75 economies featured, including South Africa. WCO 2017 Session From 6 to 8 July WCO members met for the 129th/130th Sessions of the WCO Council to agree on the 2017 annual sessions. Discussions focused on a number of key issues: trade facilitation, including the WCO Mercator Programme to assist WCO members in implementing the Customs-related measures contained in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA); security initiatives; combating illicit financial flows; and customs-tax-cooperation, in particular the challenges and opportunities from a Customs perspective. Duty Calls’ Watch List Comment on the proposed reduction in the ‘general’ rate of Customs duty on digital smart cards, the reference to persons with disabilities, and the reduction in the period within which a vehicle may not be disposed of is due by 30 July. Comment on the draft deferment rules to the Customs Duty Act, 2014, Part 2 of Chapter 3, by 31 July.
