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.
