Indirect Tax Summit On 12, 13, 14 and 15 November 2013 the South African Institute of Tax Professionals (SAIT) will be hosting the Indirect Tax Summit in Johannesburg. The summit essentially follows two tracks, a VAT and a Customs track. The Customs track will address amongst others the state of customs and excise-related legislation in South Africa, the interaction between Value-added Tax (VAT) and the Customs and Excise Act, customs valuation – an overview of current and future challenges, and the EU-SA Free Trade Agreement. The Summit – also includes two workshops, customs valuation and transfer pricing, and classification and the harmonised system. Amended APDP Forms On 01 November 2013 the South African Revenue Service (Sars) published the amendments to the Rules to the Customs and Excise Act relating to the amendment of the Automotive Production and Development Programme (APDP) forms and Annexures namely, DA199, DA199.A, DA199.01, DA199.02, DA199.02A, DA199.03, DA199.04A, DA199.04B, DA199.06A, DA199.06B, DA199.10, DA199.11, DA199.12, DA199.13, DA199.14, DA199.15, DA199.16, DA199.17, DA199.18, DA199.20, DA199.21, DA199.22, DA199.23, and DA199.24. The amendments are imposed with retrospective effect from 01 January 2013. CPA Meat Labelling The Minister of Trade and Industry has issued a final notice on categories of meat products that are required to have a trade description applied to them in terms of the Consumer Protection Act. A notice was published on 25 October 2013 but will only come into effect after six months in order to comply with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade. Duty Calls Watch List More detailed information on the tariff applications and anti-dumping applications are available online in Customs Buzz. Comments on the tariff applications are due by 15 November 2013, and the anti-dumping application on 03 December 2013. The proposed increase in the “General” rate of customs duty on uncoated paper and paperboard, classifiable in tariff subheadings 4802.56.20 and 4802.56.90, from free of duty to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) bound rate of 5% ad valorem and 20% ad valorem respectively. The proposed increase in the “General” rate of customs duty on blades for windscreen wipers, classifiable in tariff subheading 8512.90. The proposed reduction (decrease) in the “General” rate of customs duty on wheel hubs (excluding those of unmachined cast metal), classifiable in tariff subheading 8708.50.20. The proposed rebate of the customs duty (creation of a Rebate Item) for methyl ester sulphate, classifiable in tariff subheading 3402.11, for the manufacture of washing preparations (detergents), classifiable in tariff subheading 34.02. The investigation into the alleged dumping of frozen bone-in portions of fowls of the species Gallus Domesticus, classifiable in tariff subheading 0207.14.90, originating in or imported from Germany, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom (UK).
