‘Too little time to comment on customs changes’

Tight deadlines for the submission of comments on the Customs and Excise Bill, 2019 – which is due to come into operation on June 1 – could see vital points missed. That’s the concern raised by several customs experts who point out that industry has had to comment on a variety of issues in recent weeks, including the Excise Duty Act for which comment was extended to March 29. “This piece of legislation is very big and it has to be read in conjunction with all the other legislation and also all of the schedules. It is complex and it requires careful reading for input,” said Clifford Evans of
Berry & Donaldson. Comments on Sars’ Discussion Document on the Rewrite of the Excise Legislation is due by May 31 and comment on the safeguard investigation of iron and steel threaded fasteners is due by April 30. Addressing the Port Liaison Forum (PLF) in Cape Town last week, Evans said the reworked customs schedules comprised more than 450 pages. “Some of this is very complicated and intricate. Even something small that is missed will have a massive impact,” he said.