Section 71 (Customs Act) – Value of certain specified goods

71. Value of certain specified goods

(1)     The value for duty purposes of any goods imported into the Republic ex customs warehouses or ex bonded warehouses within the district of Maputo shall be calculated or determined in accordance with this Chapter as if such goods were imported directly into the Republic from the territory whence they were exported to Maputo.

[Subsection (1) substituted by section 10 of Act 105 of 1976]

(2)     Where any motor vehicle is imported by a natural person for his own use and not for sale, the Commissioner may, notwithstanding the provisions of section 65(1) and (4) but with due regard to the provisions of section 66, determine a value which shall, subject to a right of appeal to the court, mutatis mutandis in accordance with the provisions of section 65(6), be deemed to be the value for duty purposes of such vehicle: Provided that where any natural person who was the owner of and has used such motor vehicle in any territory outside the Republic, imports such vehicle into the Republic, from a territory other than the territory in which it was produced or manufactured, for his own use, and not for sale, the Commissioner may determine the value for duty purposes of such vehicle as if it were imported into the Republic from the territory in which it was produced or manufactured.

[Subsection (2) amended by section 5 of Act 89 of 1984 and section 4 of Act 105 of 1992]

Section 73 (Customs Act) – Currency conversion

73. Currency conversion

 

(1)     When the value of or the price paid or payable for any imported goods is expressed in a foreign currency, it shall, for the purpose of calculating the customs value thereof, be converted into the currency of the Republic at the selling rate at the date of shipment of the goods as determined by the Commissioner, in consultation with the South African Reserve Bank, or if no such rate is determined for such date, the latest rate determined before that date shall be used.

 

(2)     For the purposes of subsection (1) the date of shipment of –

 

(a)     non-containerized goods shall be the date of the bill of lading, air waybill, consignment note or such other document as the Commissioner may require;

(b)     containerized goods shall be the date on which the container is taken on board ship as endorsed on the bill of lading or arrival notification or, if imported otherwise than by sea, the date of the airway bill, consignment note or such other document as the Commissioner may require.

 

(3)     The Commissioner may, for the purpose of any agreement contemplated in section 49 or 51, by rule –

 

(a)     publish arrangements in connection with amounts to be used in currencies in respect of goods imported or exported between the Republic and the country or countries or group of countries concerned;

(b)     prescribe any measures applicable to the implementation of such arrangements.

[Subsection (3) added by section 62 of Act 53 of 1999]

[Section 73 substituted by section 24 of Act 112 of 1977, section 9 of Act 110 of 1979 and section 51 of Act 45 of 1995]

Section 74 (Customs Act) – Value of goods not liable to ad valorem duty

74. Value of goods not liable to ad valorem duty

(1)     Subject to the provisions of subsection (2), the customs value of any imported goods shall be declared by the importer on entry of such goods.

[Subsection (1) substituted by section 25 of Act 112 of 1977 and section 17 of Act 86 of 1982]

(2)     The Commissioner may by rule exempt, to the extent specified in the rules, any class or kind of such goods or any such goods to which circumstances so specified apply, from the provisions of subsection (1).

[Subsection (2) substituted by section 52 of Act 45 of 1995]

Section 74A (Customs Act) – Interpretation of sections 65, 66 and 67

74A.     Interpretation of sections 65, 66 and 67

 

(1)     The interpretation of sections 65, 66 and 67 shall be subject to the agreement concluded at Geneva on 12 April 1979 and known as the Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the Interpretative Notes thereto, the Advisory Opinions, Commentaries and Explanatory Notes, Case Studies and Studies issued under the said Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

[Subsection (1) substituted by section 10 of Act 101 of 1985]

 

(2)    

 

(a)     The Commissioner shall obtain and keep in his office two copies of such Agreement, Interpretative Notes, Advisory Opinions, Commentaries and Explanatory Notes, Case Studies and Studies and shall effect thereto any amendment thereof of which he is notified by the Secretariat of the Customs Co-operation Council, Brussels.

(b)     Whenever in any legal proceedings any question arises as to the contents of the said Agreement, or any such Interpretative Note, Advisory Opinion, Commentary, Explanatory Note, Case Study or Study (hereinafter in this paragraph referred to as the relevant document), or as to the date upon which any amendment thereof was effected thereto in terms of paragraph (a), a copy of the relevant document, or if amended as contemplated in paragraph (a), a copy of the relevant document as so amended, shall, unless the contrary is proved, be accepted as sufficient evidence of the contents thereof or of the effective date of any amendment thereof, as the case may be.

[Subsection (2) substituted by section 10 of Act 101 of 1985]

 

(3)     The provisions of subsection (1) shall not derogate from the interpretation which would but for that subsection be given to section 65, 66 or 67.

[Section 74A inserted by section 26 of Act 112 of 1977 and substituted by section 18 of Act 86 of 1982]

Section 75A (Customs Act) – Circumstances in which imported goods free of duty are admissible under a rebate item of Schedule No. 4

75A.  Circumstances in which imported goods free of duty are admissible under a rebate item of Schedule No. 4

 

Notwithstanding section 75, imported goods free of duty that are –

 

(a)     exempt from value-added tax in terms of any item in paragraph 8 to Schedule 1 to the Value-Added Tax Act (Act No. 89 of 1991); and

 

(b)     identified by the item number and description identical to any item in Schedule No. 4 to this Act,

 

may be entered under the item in paragraph 8 of Schedule 1 to the Value-Added Tax Act, 1991, but the goods shall, in addition to any relevant provision of the Value-Added Tax Act, 1991, be subject to compliance with the provisions of section 75 of this Act and the corresponding item of Schedule No. 4 as if the goods were entered thereunder.

[Section 75A inserted by section 29 of Act 18 of 2009]

Section 76A (Customs Act) – Recovery of certain amounts not duly payable

76A.   Recovery of certain amounts not duly payable

 

(1)     If the Commissioner, purporting to act under the provisions of section 75 or 76, pays to any person by way of a refund or drawback any amount which was not duly payable to that person under those provisions or which was in excess of the amount due to that person by way of a refund or drawback under those provisions, that amount or the excess, as the case may be, shall be repaid by the person concerned to the Commissioner upon demand, failing which it shall be recoverable in terms of this Act as if it were the duty or charge concerned or part of such duty or charge, as the case may be.

 

(2)     The provisions of subsection (1) shall apply mutatis mutandis to any amount set off in terms of section 77(a).

[Subsection (2) added by section 9 of Act 69 of 1988 and substituted by section 71 of Act 20 of 2006]

 [Section 76A inserted by section 25 of Act 84 of 1987]

Section 77 (Customs Act) – Set-off of certain amounts

77. Set-off of certain amounts

 

(a)     A licensee of a customs and excise warehouse who, in terms of the rules, is permitted to pay any duty monthly or quarterly, and who –

 

(i)      paid any duty for which he was not liable; or

(ii)     granted any provisional refund in terms of section 75(1A); or

(iii)    becomes entitled to a refund in terms of item 534.00 of Schedule No. 5 or any item of Schedule No. 6,

may, subject to the approval of the Commissioner, at any time within a period of two years from the date on which that duty was paid, such provisional refund was granted or such licensee became entitled to such refund, set off such duty, provisional refund or amount refundable against that particular duty for which such licensee subsequently becomes liable, except that the duty refundable in terms of the said item 534.00 be set off against the excise duty specified in Section B of Part 2 of Schedule No. 1 for which such licensee subsequently becomes liable, provided the monthly or quarterly accounts or bills of entry submitted by such licensee in respect of the payment of any duty against which any duty, provisional refund or amount refundable has been set off are accompanied by a full statement by such licensee, supported by a certificate by an officer, giving full particulars and a full account of the circumstances in respect of such set-off and by such documentary evidence as the Commissioner may in each case require.

[Paragraph (a) amended by section 55 of Act 45 of 1995]

 

(b)     If such set-off is not approved by the Commissioner in terms of paragraph (a), it shall be redebited to the account of such licensee.

[Section 77 substituted by section 1 of Act 96 of 67 and section 26 of Act 105 of 1969, amended by section 3 of Act 68 of 1973, section 21 of Act 86 of 1982, section 26 of Act 84 of 1987 and section 10 of Act 69 of 1988 and substituted by section 31 of Act 59 of 1990]

Section 77B (Customs Act) – Persons who may appeal

77B.    Persons who may appeal

 

(1)     Any person who may institute judicial proceedings in respect of any decision by an officer may, before or as an alternative to instituting such proceedings, lodge an appeal-

 

(a)     to the Commissioner against a decision of an officer; or

(b)     to the appeal committee contemplated in this Part in respect of those matters  and decisions of officers that the appeal committee is authorised by rule to consider and decide upon or make recommendations to the Commissioner.

 

(2)     If dissatisfied with a final decision as contemplated in (a) or (b) and the Commissioner is of the opinion that the matter is appropriate, such a person may make use of the alternative dispute procedure contemplated in section 77I.

[Section 77B effective on 4 June 2007]