Sars sets 'impossible' timelines in rules for new customs bills

‘Impossible’ timelines proposed by SA Revenue Services in the rules and regulations guiding the new customs bills are raising serious industry concerns. While the industry is currently reading and commenting on the rules and regulations, Sars is under no obligation to accept the recommended changes. “One of the issues that has been raised is that of the passing of a bill of entry which must be completed at least two hours before goods are delivered to a port’s export stack,” said Mike Walwyn, chairman of the Cape’s Port Liaison Forum. “It is physically impossible to do that with some of the fruit exports. It just cannot be done as simple as that.” Another timing issue involves bonded cargo being delivered to warehouses, said Walwyn. “The law now requires that within three hours’ of goods arriving at a warehouse they must be reported to customs as having been delivered,” he said. “The person who has delivered the cargo is also obligated to report the delivery to customs within three hours. But, if the cargo is going to be unpacked customs will require seven days’ notice.” This time line is accompanied by a long list of requirements for all parties – both those receiving and delivering the cargo. Another major concern according to Clifford Evans of Ceva Logistics is the reference in the rules and regulations to e-filing. “In practice e-filing is a financial system and we use electronic data interchange or edi, but throughout the rules all references are to e-filing.” Evans said this was one aspect that had to be clarified with Sars urgently. “In the industry e-filing and edi are two different things. Sars could very well be using e-filing as a generic term for the electronic submission of reports, but if they are not then we need to be aware of that as it impacts the way we operate.” Industry has until the end of September to comment on the second set of ten chapters of rules and regulations. Some 70 chapters have to be reviewed over the coming months. CAPTION Completing a bill of entry at least two hours before goods are delivered to a port’s export stack – as prescribed by Sars – is physically impossible for fruit exports.