DUTY CALLS

Frozen potato chips
safeguard
On 25 July 2014 the
South African Revenue
Service (Sars) imposed
a final safeguard on
frozen potato chips (or
French fries), classifiable
under tariff subheading
2004.10.20, through
two Government Gazette
notices. The safeguard is
applicable to all countries
with the exclusion of those
listed in the Government
Gazette notices (The list
of country names is in this
week’s Customs Buzz.)
The safeguard of
40.92% is imposed from
25 July 2014 to 4 July
2015, then from 05 July
2015 to 04 July 2016 a
safeguard of 20.45%.
Customs and Excise
Acts
On 23 July 2014, the
Customs Control Act
No. 31 of 2014, and the
Customs and Excise
Amendment Act No. 32 of
2014, were published in
two separate Government
Gazettes. Both these Acts
will come into operation
on a later date as
indicated in Section 944
of the Customs Control
Act, and Section 88 of
the Customs and Excise
Amendment Act.
Customs and Excise
Bills History
On 25 July 2014 Sars
published a webpage on
the history of the rewrite
process of the Customs
and Excise Act No.91 of
1964 which started as
a result of a Ministerial
decision.
Iron/Steel Tariff
Application
On 18 July 2014, the
International Trade
Administration
Commission of South
Africa (Itac) published
an application for the
proposed increase in
“General” rate of customs
duty on (i) wire of iron
or non-alloy steel: plated
or coated with zinc; (ii)
barbed wire of iron or
steel; (iii) other grill,
netting and fencing,
welded at the intersection;
and (iv) other cloth, grill,
netting and fencing.
Comment is due by 15
August 2014.
Lead Acid Tariff
Application
The proposed increase
in the “General” rate of
customs duty on leadacid
of a kind used for
starting piston engines,
classifiable under tariff
subheading 8507.10, from
5% to 30% ad valorem.
Comment is due by 15
August 2014.
Mussel Tariff
Application
Itac has published its
intention to amend its
recommendation in its
Report No.413 to include
mussels in the scope of the
customs duty. The tariff
amendment will include
the creation of additional
8-digit tariff subheadings
with the same rate of
customs duty as on
mussels classifiable under
Chapter 3.
Comment is due by
01August 2014.
Customs and Excise
Course
On 01 October 2014,
Continuing Education
at the University of
Pretoria is presenting
a course on customs
and excise taxes which
offers an opportunity for
individuals with prior
formal education or
experience in taxation to
acquire a basic knowledge
of customs and excise
taxes in a South African
context.