New customs legislation not the behemoth originally envisaged

Despite major changes in

the new customs legislation,

customs processes will

largely remain unchanged,

according to Shepstone &

Wylie partner Freek van

Rooyen who addressed

the Western Cape

Exporters’ Club

last week on the

topic.

“The

terminology is

changing and

that will take

some getting

used to while

the penalty

amounts have increased

and timelines have

changed,” he said. “When

this new legislation and the

proposed changes came to

the fore, we all looked at the

draft legislation and there

were numerous

sections to it

– in excess of

900 – and we

questioned

whether we

were going to

survive. But

if we look at it

closely then it is

really not

all that much different. Life

is going to be more or less

the same.”

He said from concerns

over timelines being too

short to the impact on City

Deep with cargo clearing

at the first port of entry,

the two new bills would not

have the dramatic impact

that was first expected.

“The only

issue or

concern that

we can really

see lies in the

new penalty

regime and

the impact

that will

have on the

players in

international

trade.”

He said

with the

current

legislation having been

enacted in 1964 there was

a need for new customs

bills.

“Our current legislation

is also a very difficult

piece of legislation to

read and make sense of.

It had to be recreated

to bring it into line

with modernisation

and to give effect to

the numerous binding

international agreements

and conventions that South

Africa is now part of.”

Van Rooyen said the

rewriting of the laws had

been a mammoth task – a

process that started in

2003.

Comparing the new

legislation

to the

existing act,

he assured

exporters

concerned

about the

impact that

it would be

business as

usual when

the new

legislation

became

effective.

He said

from ongoing interactions

with the South African

Revenue Service (Sars) the

government was cognisant

of the fears around the

new acts and the phased

approach would benefit

industry, allowing for

adjustments and little or no

disruption to trade.

INSERT

The only issue lies

in the new penalty

regime and the

impact that will have

on the players in

international trade.

– Freek van Rooyen