Section 10 (Customs Act) – When goods deemed to be imported

10. When goods deemed to be imported

 

(1)     For the purposes of this Act all goods consigned to or brought into the Republic shall be deemed to have been imported into the Republic –

 

(a)     in the case of goods consigned to a place in the Republic in a ship or aircraft, at the time when such ship or aircraft on the voyage or flight in question, first came within the control area of the port or airport authority at that place, or at the time of the landing of such goods at the place of actual discharge thereof in the Republic if such ship or aircraft did not on that voyage or flight call at the place to which the goods were consigned or if such goods were discharged before arrival of such ship or aircraft at the place to which such goods were consigned;

(b)     in the case of goods not consigned to a place in the Republic but brought thereto by and landed therein from a ship or aircraft, at the time when such goods were so landed;

(c)     subject to the provisions of subsectionection (2), in the case of goods brought to the Republic overland, at the time when such goods entered the Republic;

(d)     in the case of goods brought to the Republic by post, at the time of importation in terms of paragraph (a), (b) or (c) according to the means of carriage of such goods; and

(e)     in the case of goods brought to the Republic in any manner not specified in this section, at the time specified in the General Notes to Schedule No. 1 or, if no such time is specified in the said General Notes in respect of the goods in question, at the time such goods are considered by the Commissioner to have entered the Republic.

[Paragraph (e) added by section 2 of Act 57 of 1966]

 

(2)     For the purposes of subsection (1), a place outside the Republic deemed by the Commissioner under section 6(1A) or 50A to be a place of entry for goods consigned to the Republic, shall be deemed to be a place in the Republic in respect of goods consigned to or entered at such place for removal to the Republic overland.

[Subsection (2) substituted by section 2 of Act 52 of 1986 and section 6 of Act 36 of 2007]

Section 100 (Customs Act) – Agent may be called upon to produce written authority

100. Agent may be called upon to produce written authority

If any person makes an application to an officer to transact any business on behalf of another person or if any person represents himself to an officer as the agent of another person, such officer may require the person so applying or representing himself to produce a written authority in the form approved by the Commissioner, from the person on whose behalf such application is made or on whose behalf the person so representing himself is alleged to be acting, and in default of the production of such authority, the officer may refuse to transact such business.

Section 101 (Customs Act) – Business accounts, documents etc., to be available for inspection

101. Business accounts, documents, etc., to be available for inspection

(1)    


(a)     Any person carrying on any business in the Republic shall keep within the Republic in one of the official languages such books, accounts and documents relating to his transactions as may be prescribed by rule and such books, accounts and documents shall be kept in such form and manner and shall be retained for such period as may be so prescribed.

[Paragraph (a) substituted by section 63 of Act 45 of 1995]

(b)     Different provisions may be so prescribed in respect of different classes or kinds of books, accounts and documents and different classes of persons.

(1A)  The Commissioner may, subject to such conditions as he may determine, allow any person referred to in subsection (1) to retain in lieu of any book, account or document required to be retained in terms of that subsection, a reproduction of any such book, account or document obtained by means of microfilming or any other process.

[Subsection (1A) inserted by section 12 of Act 98 of 1980]

(2)     Any person referred to in subsection (1) shall upon demand by the Controller or the Commissioner produce to him such books, accounts or documents referred to in subsection (1) as he may require and such person shall render such returns or submit such particulars in connection with his transactions to the Commissioner as he may from time to time require.

(2A)  The Commissioner may, subject to such conditions as he may determine, allow any such person to produce in lieu of any such book, account or document required to be produced in terms of subsection (2), a copy thereof obtained by means of a reproduction referred to in subsection (1A), and such copy shall, subject to compliance with such conditions, for all purposes have all the effects of the original book, account or document concerned.

[Subsection (2A) inserted by section 12 of Act 98 of 1980]

(2B)  Any person referred to in subsection (1) shall keep and produce on demand any electronic representations of information in any form.

[Subsection (2B) inserted by section 70 of Act 53 of 1999 and substituted by section 152 of Act 45 of 2003]

(3)     The Commissioner may by rule prescribe –

(a)     the books, accounts, documents, transactions or operations in respect of which a chartered accountant’s certificate shall be produced to the Controller by such class of persons referred to in subsection (1) as he may so prescribe; and

(b)     the nature and form of such certificate and the intervals at which such a certificate shall be produced.

[Subsection (3) amended by section 63 of Act 45 of 1995]

[Section 101 substituted by section 18 of Act 85 of 1968]

Section 101A (Customs Act) – Electronic communications for the purposes of customs and excise procedures

101A. Electronic communication for the purposes of customs and excise procedures

(1)     In this section and the rules thereto, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following words and phrases, and their grammatical variations where applicable, shall have the following meanings:

Section 101B (Customs Act) – Special provisions relating to the processing and protection of personal information

101B.  Special provisions relating to the processing and protection of personal information

(1)     In this section and the rules made thereunder, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following words and phrases, and their grammatical variations where applicable, shall have the following meanings:

Section 102 (Customs Act) – Sellers of goods to produce proof of payment of duty

102. Sellers of goods to produce proof of payment of duty

 

(1)     Any person selling, offering for sale or dealing in imported or excisable goods or fuel levy goods or any person removing the same, or any person having such goods entered in his books or mentioned in any documents referred to in section 75(4A) or 101, shall, when requested by an officer, produce proof as to the person from whom the goods were obtained and, if he is the importer or manufacturer or owner, as to the place where the duty due thereon was paid, the date of payment, the particulars of the entry for home consumption and the marks and numbers of the cases, packages, bales and other articles concerned, which marks and numbers shall correspond to the documents produced in proof of the payment of the duty.

[Subsection (1) substituted by section 29 of Act 105 of 1969, section 30 of Act 84 of 1987 and section 34 of Act 59 of 1990]

 

(2)     In any prosecution or proceedings under this Act, any statement in any record, letter or any other document kept, retained, received or dispatched by or on behalf of any person to the effect that any goods of a particular price, value (including any commission, discount, cost, charge, expense, royalty, freight, tax, drawback, refund, rebate, remission or other information which relates to such goods and has a bearing on such price or value) or quantity, quality, nature, strength or other characteristic have been manufactured, imported, ordered, supplied, purchased, sold, dealt with or in or held in stock by him at any time, shall be admissible in evidence against him as an admission that he has at that time manufactured, imported, ordered, supplied, purchased, sold, dealt with or in or held in stock goods of that price, value, quantity, quality, nature, strength or other characteristic.

[Subsection (2) substituted by section 19 of Act 85 of 1968, section 29 of Act 105 of 1969 and section 35 of Act 112 of 1977]

 

(3)     If in any such prosecution or proceedings the question arises whether any goods have been sold or used or disposed of or are or were in the possession of any person in such a manner as not to render them subject to duty, it shall be presumed that such goods have not been so sold or used or disposed of or are not or were not in the possession of such person in the said manner unless the contrary is proved.

[Subsection (3) substituted by section 12 of Act 57 of 1966]

 

(4)     If in any prosecution under this Act or in any dispute in which the State, the Minister or the Commissioner or any officer is a party, the question arises whether the proper duty has been paid or whether any goods or plant have been lawfully used, imported, exported, manufactured, removed or otherwise dealt with or in, or whether any books, accounts, documents, forms or invoices required by rule to be completed and kept, exist or have been duly completed and kept or have been furnished to any officer, it shall be presumed that such duty has not been paid or that such goods or plant have not been lawfully used, imported, exported, manufactured, removed or otherwise dealt with or in, or that such books, accounts, documents, forms or invoices do not exist or have not been duly completed and kept or have not been so furnished, as the case may be, unless the contrary is proved.

[Subsection (4) substituted by section 16 of Act 95 of 1965, section 12 of Act 57 of 1966, section 12 of Act 101 of 1985, section 30 of Act 84 of 1987 and section 64 of Act 45 of 1995]

 

(5)     If in any prosecution under this Act or in any dispute in which the State, the Minister or the Commissioner or any officer is a party, it is alleged by or on behalf of the State or the Minister or the Commissioner or such officer that any goods or plant have been or have not been imported, exported, manufactured in the Republic, removed or otherwise dealt with or in, it shall be presumed that such goods or plant have been or (as the case may be) have not been imported, exported, manufactured in the Republic, removed or otherwise dealt with or in, unless the contrary is proved.

[Subsection (5) added by section 12 of Act 57 of 1966]

Section 103 (Customs Act) – Liability of company, partnership, etc.

103. Liability of company, partnership, etc.

For the purposes of this Act any reference to a person shall be deemed to include a reference to a company, close corporation, co-operative society, firm, partnership, statutory body or club, and in the event of a contravention of or non-compliance with this Act or the incurring of any liability under this Act by any company, close corporation, co-operative society, firm, partnership, statutory body or club any person having the management of any premises or business in or in connection with which the contravention or non-compliance took place or the liability was incurred may be charged with the relevant offence and shall be liable to any penalties provided therefor and shall be liable in respect of any liability so incurred.

[Section 103 substituted by section 16 of Act 68 of 1989]

104 ……….

[Section 104 repealed by section 6 of Act 25 of 1969]

Section 105 (Customs Act) – Interest on outstanding amounts

105. Interest on outstanding amounts

 

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any law contained –

 

(a)     interest shall be payable from such date and for such period as the Commissioner may determine on any outstanding amount payable in terms of this Act, other than the outstanding amount of any penalty or forfeiture payable in terms of this Act;

 

 (b)    the interest so payable shall be paid at a rate the Minister of Finance determines in terms of section 80(1)(b) of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No. 1 of 1999): Provided that where the Minister fixes a new rate in terms of that Act, that new rate applies for purposes of this Act from the first day of the second month following the date on which that new rate came into operation;

[Paragraph (b) substituted by section 6 of Act 32 of 1999, amended by GN 540 of 1999, GN 1066 of 1999 and GN 185 of 2000 and substituted by section 63 of Act 30 of 2000, section 111 of Act 74 of 2002 and section 35 of Act 16 of 2004]

 

(c)     the Commissioner may on such conditions as he may consider necessary –

 

(i)      remit any interest for which any person is liable by virtue of this section;

(ii)     permit payment of any amount referred to in paragraph (a) by instalments of such amounts and at such times as he may determine;

[Paragraph (c) amended by section 65 of Act 45 of 1995]

 

(d)     any such instalment paid shall be utilized by the Commissioner to discharge any penalty, interest, forfeiture, duty and expenses incurred by or charges due to the Commissioner, in that order;

[Paragraph (d) substituted by section 93 of Act 31 of 2005 and section 72 of Act 20 of 2006]

 

(e)     any such interest shall be calculated monthly and a portion of a month shall be regarded as a full month; and

 

 (f)    any such interest recovered shall be paid into the National Revenue Fund.

[Paragraph (f) substituted by section 72 of Act 30 of 1998]

 [Section 105 substituted by section 2 of Act 111 of 1991]

Section 106 (Customs Act) – Sample

106. Samples

 

(1)     An officer may on entry of any imported goods or goods for export or during the manufacture of any excisable goods, or at any time after such entry or manufacture, take, without payment, from any person in possession of such imported goods or goods for export or of any manufactured or partly manufactured excisable goods samples of such imported, manufactured or partly manufactured goods or of materials intended for the manufacture of excisable goods or of goods used under the provisions of Chapter X, for examination or for ascertaining the duties payable thereon or for such other purpose as the Commissioner may prescribe by rule, and those samples shall be dealt with and accounted for in such manner as the Commissioner may direct.

[Subsection (1) substituted by section 30 of Act 105 of 1969, section 35 of Act 59 of 1990, section 66 of Act 45 of 1995 and section 39 of Act 61 of 2008]

 

(2)     For the purpose of determining the duty leviable in respect of any goods comprising a single consignment, or in any vessel, tank or other container of goods, the nature or characteristics of all the goods in that consignment, vessel, tank or other container shall be deemed to correspond to the nature or characteristics of any sample taken by the officer from such consignment, vessel, tank or other container.

Section 107 (Customs Act) – Expenses of landing, examinations, weighing, analysis, etc.

107. Expenses of landing, examination, weighing, analysis, etc.

 

(1)    

 

(a)     All handling of and dealing with goods for the purposes of this Act shall be performed by or at the expense and risk of –

(i)      the importer, exporter, manufacturer, owner or other person, whoever is in control of the goods, except in the case of goods examined at a customs and excise warehouse, where such handling of and dealing with goods shall be performed at the expense and risk of the owner thereof or the licensee of such warehouse;

(ii)     in the case of goods in transit through the Republic the person who enters the goods for such transit; or

(iii)    in the case of goods for transhipment at any place in the Republic, the person who declares the goods on any cargo report for such transhipment

[Paragraph (a) substituted by section 34 of Act 21 of 2006 effective on 15 January 2008]

(b)     Any goods remaining in the custody or under the control of the Commissioner after expiry of a period of 28 days from the date of due entry thereof, may be removed by the Controller to the State warehouse or other place indicated by the Controller, and may thereupon be disposed of in terms of section 43(3).

[Paragraph (b) added by section 11 of Act 93 of 1978 and substituted by section 33 of Act 34 of 2004]

 

(2)    

 

(a)            

(i)      Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Commissioner shall not, except on such conditions, including conditions relating to security, as may be determined by him or her, allow goods to pass from his or her control until the provisions of this Act or any law relating to the importation, exportation, transhipment or transit carriage through the Republic of goods, have been complied with in respect of such goods.

(ii)     The State or the Commissioner or any officer shall in no case be liable in respect of any claim arising out of the detention or examination of goods or for the costs of such detention or examination.

(iii)    Such examination shall include any examination contemplated in section 4(8A).

[Paragraph (a) substituted by section 6 of Act 89 of 1983, section 67 of Act 45 of 1995 and section 34 of Act 31 of 2006 effective on 15 January 2008]

(b)     Whenever the Commissioner considers it necessary for the purposes of paragraph (a) of this subsection or section 106(1) that any goods should be analysed he may direct that such goods be analysed by a person designated by him and that the analysis be done in accordance with a method determined by him.

[Paragraph (b) added by section 20 of Act 85 of 1968 and substituted by section 31 of Act 105 of 1969]

 

(3)     The cost of analysis of any goods for the purposes of subsection (2)(a) shall be borne by the importer, exporter, manufacturer or owner of such goods except where the Commissioner considers the analysis necessary for the purposes of subsection (2)(a) and the result of the analysis confirms the correctness of the declaration or bill of entry made or presented by such importer, exporter, manufacturer or owner in respect of such goods: Provided that the cost of analysis shall in no case be borne by the State where it is carried out in connection with any application for refund of duty or substitution of any entry or where the result of analysis shows that the goods in question were incorrectly or insufficiently described on the relative prescribed invoice.

[Subsection (3) substituted by section 20 of Act 85 of 1968]

 

(4)     For the purposes of subsections (1) and (2)(a), unless the context indicates otherwise, ‘goods’ includes any ship, vehicle or container contemplated in section 1(2).

[Subsection (4) added by section 11 of Act 10 of 2006]