On 07 October 2011 the South African Revenue Service (Sars) published its Draft HS2012 documents. You will recall that for the last few months we have been alerting you to the proposed changes to the South African Harmonised Customs and Excise Tariff, and also informed you of the proposed international amendments. The notice reads follows: 01 January 2012 marks the implementation of the 2012 version of the Harmonised System (HS) Nomenclature. The amendments in HS 2012 represent the recommendations of the Customs Co-operation Council adopted by the Customs Cooperation Council (commonly known as the World Customs Organisation or the WCO) on 26 June 2009. As a signatory to the HS Convention, South Africa will implement the amendments to the HS 2012, in terms of section 48(1)(c) of the Customs and Excise Act, 1964 (the Act), with effect from 01 January 2012. This is the fourth major revision of the HS since it was approved by the Customs Co-operation Council in 1983 and includes, on an international level, 220 sets of amendments. The main sources of these amendments are (i) Environmental and social issues of global concern, in particular the classification and coding of goods of specific importance to food security and the early warning data system of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). (ii) New subheadings have been created for separate identification of certain edible vegetables, roots and tubers, fruit and nuts, as well as cereals. (iii) New subheadings have also been created for specific chemicals controlled under the Rotterdam Convention and ozone-depleting substances controlled under the Montreal Protocol. (iv) Amendments that resulted from changes in international trade patterns, such as the deletion of more than 40 subheadings due to the low volume in trade, separate identification of certain commodities in either existing or new headings, some advancements in technology and amendments aimed at the clarification of text to ensure uniform application of the HS Nomenclature The HS 2012 amendments and correlation table up to a 6-digit level can be viewed on the WCO website. The following documents relate to the amendments for HS 2012: (i) Draft amendment of Part 1 of Schedule No. 1 (01 January 2012) - This document contains inter alia the recommendations made by the WCO Council on a 6-digit level, as well as the consequential amendments on a national (8-digit) level (South Africa specific). (ii) Draft amendment of other Schedules (January 2012) - These documents contain inter alia consequential amendments as a result of the HS 2012 amendment implemented in Part 1 of Schedule No.1 to the Act. (iii) Correlation table - The correlation table serves as a guide to assist with the transposition of goods, on national level, as a result of the HS 2012. (iv) Explanatory Memorandum - This document elaborates on specific changes included in the amendments of the Schedules to the Act such as the phase-down of duties in terms of agreements, technical amendments, etc. Comments are due by 07 November 2011.
