Air conditioning machines rebate – Comment due On 18 October the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (Itac) called for comment on the review of rebate item 316.01/8415.90/02.06 in Part 1 of Schedule No 3 to the Customs and Excise Act, 1964 “Industrial Rebates of Customs Duties – Goods used in the Manufacture of Other Goods”, which reads “Air conditioning machines, having a rated cooling capacity exceeding 3 kW, incomplete or unassembled, for the manufacture of air conditioning machines identifiable for use in heavy vehicles as defined in Note 1 to rebate item 317.07.” The application was lodged by Itac who reasoned that the review was to assess the impact of a revised rebate item given that the industry had evolved significantly since its implementation in 2001, and to align the rebate provision with the tariff structure and industry capabilities where applicable. Comment is due by 15 November.
Agricultural safeguard guidelines – Comment due Itac on 18 October released its “Guidelines and Conditions Pertaining to Imposition of an Agricultural Safeguard Measure in terms of Article 35 of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union and its Member States, of the One Part, and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) EPA States, of the Other.” Comment is due by 28 October.
Ferrous waste and scrap – Comment due On 18 October Itac announced that the Trade and Industry Minister had directed it to investigate and advise him whether it would be appropriate to replace the existing Price Preference System (PPS) regulating the exportation of ferrous and non-ferrous waste and scrap metal with an export duty. Comment is due by 15 November.
Optical fibres cables dumping Rebate Sars on 18 October announced the insertion of rebate items 460.05/2712.10.20/01.08; 460.07/3916.90.90/01.08; 460.15/72.17/01.04; 460.16/8544.70/01.06 and the substitution of item 460.18/9001.210/01.06 in Part 2 of Schedule No 4 to the Customs and Excise Act, 1964 “General Rebates of Customs Duties, Fuel Levy and Environmental Levy – Temporary Rebates of Customs Duties” in order to provide for a rebate on certain input material used in the manufacture of optical fibre cables and optical ground wire cables, for which the extent of rebate is full duty.
Sugar duty increase On 18 October the South African Revenue Service (Sars) announced an increase in the rates of customs duty on sugar, classifiable in tariff subheadings 1701.12, 1701.13, 1701.14, 1701.91, and 1701.99 in terms of the existing variable tariff formula in Part 1 of Schedule No 1 to the Customs and Excise Act, 1964 ‘Ordinary Customs Duty’, from 401.79c/kg to 476.61c/kg