Since our last column of 2018 there have been a number of customs, excise and international trade developments, the more prominent of which are covered in this column. Customs Buzz will cover them in greater detail. Coat permit applications due On 04 January the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (Itac) invited permit applications by 25 January in terms of rebate item 460.11/00.00/01.00 for used overcoats, carcoats, raincoats, anoraks, ski jackets, parkas, etc classifiable in tariff headings 61.01, 61.02, 62.01, 62.02 and tariff subheading 6309.00.13. Rebate items for bars and rods Itac on 14 December 2018 announced the proposed creation of a rebate item for bars and rods of aluminium-coppermagnesium-zinc alloys on which comment is due by 11 January. Tariff amendments 2019 In the last column of 2018 we warned you to keep a watchful eye on the 2019 tariff amendments, which were published on 28 December 2018. The tariff amendments relate to Schedules No 1 (69 deletions, 52 insertions, and 57 substitutions), 3, 4, 5 and 6 to the Customs and Excise Act, 1964, which serve to implement changes to the “general” rates of customs duties in terms of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union (EU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) states for 2019 and other miscellaneous amendments. Additional tariff subheadings have been added in Chapters 17, 28, 39, 54, 62, 64, 72, 73, 84 and 89 of Part 1 of Schedule No 1 to the Act, 1964, attributable to a number of tariff applications. A number of items of Schedule No 1 Part 2A to the Act, “Specific Excise Duties on locally manufactured or on imported goods of the same class or kind”, have been deleted as a consequence of the deletions in Schedule No 1 Part 1 to the Act, and in Schedule No 3 Part 1 to the Act, “Industrial Rebates of Customs Duties – Goods used in the Manufacture of Other Goods”. The redundant Note 10 to rebate item 317.03, covering the transitional note from the Motor Industry Development Programme (MIDP) to the Automotive Production and Development Programme (APDP), was deleted. A number of Tariff Rate Quotas, in terms of EPA, were introduced with retrospective effect from 01 September 2018 to 31 December 2018, and with effect from 01 January 2019. Unframed glass mirrors dumping On 21 December 2018 Itac announced its final determination, to maintain the anti-dumping duty on unframed glass mirrors of a thickness of between 2mm or more but not exceeding 6mm, classifiable in tariff subheading 7009.91, originating in or imported from the People’s Republic of China. Sugar Customs Duty Reduction On 21 December 2018 Sars announced a reduction in the rates of customs duty on sugar, from 460.86c/kg to 369.57c/kg
