DUTY CALLS

01 July 2010 –
Could we Forget?
What were you up to
on 01 July 2010? Did you
celebrate the significance of
the day? That was when the
Southern African Customs
Union (Sacu) celebrated
its centenary. The oldest
operational customs union
in the world turned 100, an
event which not even its own
website celebrated.
According to a weekend
newspaper report, the heads
of state of Sacu (Botswana,
Lesotho, Namibia, South
Africa and Swaziland)
are scheduled to meet in
Pretoria in the next few days
to discuss the union’s future.
No doubt high on the agenda
will be the revenue-sharing
formula, which accounts for
the division of customs duty
and excise duty collected by
the Sacu members.
A New Harmonised
System Convention
Signatory
If you are presently
trading with or intend to
trade with Liberia, the
following might well be of
interest.
The WCO announced
that Liberia had deposited
its instrument of accession
to the International
Convention on the
Harmonised Commodity
Description and Coding
System, also known as
the Harmonised System,
with the WCO’s Secretary
General. Liberia, a member
of the WCO since 07
January 1975, becomes the
138th Contracting Party
to the Harmonised System
Convention.
Liberia is situated on
the west coast of Africa
bordered by Sierra Leone,
Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire
(Ivory Coast), and the
Atlantic Ocean. Its principal
export commodities are
rubber, timber, iron,
diamonds, cocoa and coffee,
and its principal import
commodities are fuels,
chemicals, machinery,
transportation equipment,
manufactured goods and
foodstuffs.
The Harmonised System
Convention will enter into
force in Liberia on
01 January 2012 unless
Liberia decides to specify
an earlier date.
A South African at
the WCO
Erich Kieck the Group
Executive: Customs Strategy
and Policy at the South
African Revenue Service
(Sars), was elected to head
capacity building at the
WCO in Brussels, Belgium.
He will start his five-year
term at the WCO on
01 January 2011, replacing
the current director Lars
Karlsson from Sweden.
ZHU Gaozhang of the
People’s Republic of China
was elected to head the
compliance and facilitation
portfolio, also for a
five-year term.
Insertion Environmental
Levy
Comment in respect of
Sars’ proposed introduction
of an “Environmental
Levy on Carbon Dioxide
(CO2) Emissions of Motor
Vehicles” is due today, 16
July 2010.
The proposed draft
amendments relate to:
(i) The insertion of
Environmental Levy in
Schedule No.1 Part 3D to
the Customs and Excise
Act (the Act); (ii) The
insertion of “Refunds of
Environmental Levy on
Imported Goods”, and
“Environmental Levy
Goods Exported”; (iii) The
insertion of Rules 54FB.01
to 54FB.05 to the Act; and
(iv) The insertion of form
DA177 “Environmental
Levy Account for Carbon
Dioxide Emission Levy”.
The proposed
amendments are expected to
enter into force on
01 September 2010.