Submit your comments now on amendments to key draft bills

THE FREIGHT and trading industries have just two weeks to make their comments on two draft bills just published by the national treasury, according to Riaan de Lange of Tariff & Trade Intelligence. They are the Draft Revenue Laws Amendment Bill, 2008; and the Draft Revenue Laws Second Amendment Bill, 2008 – drafted to amend, amongst other things, the Customs & Excise Act, 1964. “These two bills – along with the Taxation Laws Amendment Bills, 2008, which were promulgated earlier this year – give effect to the tax proposals presented by the minister of finance in the 2008 budget,” said De Lange. The public hearings by parliament’s portfolio committee began two days ago, with comments due to be submitted no later than September 5. These two bills contain a comprehensive and extremely varied spectrum of amendments – ranging from “providing for the removal of dutiable imported goods from a customs and excise storage warehouse on issuing of a certificate”; and “providing for losses in respect of certain liquid bulk goods in a special customs and excise storage warehouse”; to “amending certain provisions regarding entitlement to payment of storage charges from the proceeds of sale of goods stored in a place deemed to be a State warehouse”; and “limiting liability for underpayments of duty in instances where it was not paid or not paid in full in accordance with a practice generally prevailing”. But the intriguing parts of the Draft Revenue Laws Second Amendment Bill, according to De Lange, are amendments, which “almost grant customs a para-military status”. This is in the proposed provisions for the stopping of ships within the territorial sea and contiguous zone of South Africa by customs officers in command of armed customs patrol boats; the granting to such officers the powers of arrest; and the provision to the officers of firearms. To get a clearer idea of just what this all means, FTW quizzed Andrew Robinson, a specialist maritime lawyer with Durban-based Deneys Reitz. "It would appear,” he said, “that the purpose of certain of the amendments to the C&E Act is to provide a customs officer with the necessary statutory authority to prevent or punish any contravention of any fiscal law within the territorial sea or contiguous zone.” But it also introduces two new implements for enforcement and punishment – namely the customs patrol boat and fire arms. “With regard to the customs patrol boat itself,” said Robinson, “the further amendments suggest that the commissioner is entitled to acquire boats, suitably armed and equipped, for patrolling the sea borders of SA. “The patrol boat will fly the flag of the SA Revenue Service (Sars) and will be entitled to pursue any vessel where that vessel does not immediately come to a stop when signalled, ordered or required to do so and the operator (which would include the master) of the vessel refuses to permit the vessel to be boarded. “The customs officer may, as the last resort – and after having fired a warning shot – fire at-orinto the vessel to compel it to come to a stop.” The draft Revenue Law Second Amendment Bill also seeks to provide a customs officer with the powers of arrest for the purpose of enforcing the act, Robinson added. “It will allow a certain category of customs officers to possess firearms,” he told FTW, “although the firearm is to be used as a last resort – and then only in self defence from imminent or future death or grievous bodily harm or in defence of any other person assisting the customs officer who is at risk.” But Robinson expressed doubt about the feasibility of this set of amendments. “My own view,” he said, “is that it is unlikely that Sars will be able to properly manage a fleet of customs patrol boats. Military experts have recently said that there appears to be no coherent maritime policy in SA – and these amendments support that statement. “It would be better for SA if it developed a single force, based on the “Coast Guard” concept, that was suitably equipped to deal with all customs, immigration and resource protection issues.”