Industry has met Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s decision to henceforth provide for the publication of tariff determinations with a sigh of relief.These classifications have been one of the biggest bugbears in the past few years causing costly delays and often confusion amongst industry stakeholders.In its review of the budget, National Treasury states this move is in line with the requirements of the World Customs Organization (WCO) which advocates capacity building, skills development and knowledge sharing by customs authorities to enhance compliance with customs and excise legislation.“Publishing tariff classifications will be useful in this regard and will contribute to consistency and transparency in the classification of goods. It is proposed that the Customs and Excise Act be amended to provide for the publication of these determinations and rules prescribing the circumstances in which such publication may take place, the kind of information that may be published and the manner of publication,” reads the rev iew.Clifford Evans, customs liaison manager at Berry & Donaldson, said industry had been petitioning for the publication of tariff determination for years.“It is an issue we have been battling for years and one of our biggest challenges,” he said. This was after the South African Revenue Service abolished the practice of a published tariff declaration book. “In the past these classifications were readily available to industry in book form,” he told FTW. “Sars then took the decision to no longer publish the tariff declarations as it was then deemed to be confidential between the revenue service and the importer.”Basil Hanival, a consultant for the South African Association of Freight Forwarders (Saaff ), said this had not only resulted in delays, but also in repetition.“In many instances agents were applying for classifications that had already been published. The move to again publish these tariff declarations will result in far more ef f icienc y.”According to Evans, the new customs legislation does make provision for the classifications to be published, but as the new laws are not yet in effect, the current legislation would have to be amended.He said through the publication of these tariffs, Sars would be introducing much-needed transparency to the system as it was critical that determinations be published even if in an abridged format online.Not only did it avoid inconsistencies in classifications but it contributed to fair competition in trade.Both Hanival and Evans said publishing determinations served as a guide to traders, and more importantly it allowed for monitoring of the system, allowing industry the opportunity to react if a wrong classification was made that might give a competitor an advantage. It remains uncertain when the tariffs will be published, but the decision to include this in the national budget was good news as it indicated progress on the matter, the experts said.The non-availability of tariff determinations is globally considered as a bureaucratic measure that obstructs trade. It is highly recommended by the Revised Kyoto Convention that they should be published.
INSERT: Publishing determinations serves as a guide to traders and allows for monitoring of the system.– Clifford Evans