On 24 November 2014 the South African Revenue Service (Sars) published two tariff amendments with respect to plastic bags to include thermoplastic materials under compulsory specifications for plastic bags and flat bags as recommended by the National Regulator of Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) VC 8087/2013.
These tariff amendments are proposed as a consequence of the amendments published by the NRCS in the Government Gazette of 28 September 2012, effective from 06 March 2014.
The first tariff amendment relates to the insertion in Schedule No 1 Part 1 to the Act (Ordinary Customs Duty) of tariff subheadings 3923.21.07, 3923.21.17, 3923.29.40 and 3923.29.50, and of the deletion of tariff subheadings 3923.21.05, 3923.21.15, 3923.29.05 and 3923.29.15. These amendments would be effective from 01 December 2014 up to and including 31 December 2014. Effective on 01 January 2015 the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) rates of ordinary customs duty are amended.
The second tariff amendment relates to the amendment of Schedule No 1 Part 3A to the Act to reflect the amended tariff subheadings of Environmental Levy (EL) items 147.01.01, 147.01.03, 147.01.05 and 147.01.07. These amendments would be effective from 01 December 2014 up to and including 31 December 2014.
The third tariff amendment, that of Additional Note 3 to Chapter 39 to the Act, will be published on 28 November 2014, also effective from 01 December 2014.
The tariff amendments are the result of Sars’ invitation for comment on 11 and 14 August 2014, which closed on 12 September 2014. These tariff amendments are unchanged from the published draft notices.