2019 Tariff Amendments At the time of writing the South African Revenue Service (Sars) had not yet published the 2019 tariff amendments to Part 1 of Schedule No 1 to the Customs and Excise Act, 1964, ‘Ordinary Customs Duty’ to implement changes to the rates of customs duties in terms of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union (EU) and the Southern African Development Community SADC EPA States for 2019 and other miscellaneous amendments. Do watch out for it the week of 16 December. WCO Handbook on Data Analysis The WCO on 04 December released its “Handbook on Data Analysis”, which is aimed at presenting an overview of data analytics and, more specifically, what it is, how it works, and how useful it may be to Customs and other governmental agencies. The handbook offers guidance on how to leverage big data and data analytics, outlines data governancerelated issues, and presents some common data analysis tools, such as predictive analytics, cognitive computing and statistical programming languages. WCO signs MoU with IMF On 05 December the WCO and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Collection of Customs Data. The MoU relates to use of the Revenue Administration Fiscal Information Tool to establish a framework for cooperation for the harmonised collection of Customs data through an International Survey on Customs Administrations (ISOCA). The objective of the partnership is to provide a set of both quantitative and qualitative Customs administration information, which facilitates data analytics. WCO-Sacu Connect Project The WCO on 04 December announced the successful conclusion of its Customs Modernisation Programme with the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu). In 2014, the WCO, the Sacu secretariat and the five Customs administrations of the Sacu region (Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, and South Africa) embarked on a partnership to support effective implementation of the five-year Sacu Customs Modernisation Programme, known as the WCO-Sacu Connect Project. Over the past five years and through the delivery of 114 activities (including 96 on-site activities), the WCO-Sacu Connect Project achieved tangible results in the areas of IT connectivity, trade facilitation, risk management and legislative reform. Duty Calls’ Watchlist Comment on the increase in the customs duty on frozen meat and edible offal of chicken is due by 28 December. Comment on the disposable diapers tariff description; on the increase in the rate of customs duty on tin plate; on the increase of customs duty on iron and steel tubes and pipes; and on the dumping of polyethylene terephthalate is due by 24 December. Comment on the quotalinked rebate of the full anti-dumping duty on frozen chicken is due by 21 December.
