THE Southern African Customs Union (SACU) member states have successfully migrated to a new tariff system that will manage the export and import of goods at the borders.
business
Feb. 18, 2022
NEO SENOKO
2 min read
SACU migrates to new tariff system
SACU executive secretary, Paulina Elago
Story highlights
The new system will control customs duties on imported goods, excise duties on certain goods produced in the customs union
The Harmonised System 2022 is the seventh edition and a result of a major revision and a result of a major revision since its adoption by the WCO Council in 1983
The new system will control customs duties on imported goods, excise duties on certain goods produced in the customs union and similar imported goods, as well as rebates and refunds of such duties and trade remedies.
Lesotho is also party to the SACU Common External Tariff (CET), replacing the 2017 version.
“SACU member states being contracting parties to this convention, are required to align their customs and statistical nomenclatures with latest version of the Harmonised System,” said SACU executive secretary Paulina Elago in a statement.
The Harmonised System 2022 is the seventh edition and a result of a major revision since its adoption by the WCO Council in 1983, implemented in 1988.
It includes 351 sets of amendments affecting various sectors such as agriculture, food and tobacco, chemicals, wood, textiles, base metals, machinery and transport.
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The changes were necessitated by, amongst others, public health and safety requirements, inclusion of goods specifically controlled under various conventions, food security and environment protection, new products introduced as a result of progress in technology, deletion of certain products due to low volumes of trade and clarification of the classification of certain products.
The preparation for the migration of the SACU CET started in 2019 with the support of the HS-Africa programme.
Under this programme, member states developed migration framework to facilitate the transition to new version and established a SACU working group to spearhead the migration.
The roadmap for migration which was based on the framework included preparation of draft amendments to the CET and correlation tables, consultations among the member states at national and regional levels. Legislative processes in the member states were required as well as awareness raising and publicity activities regarding the new version.
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