Johannesburg — A LONG-awaited revision to the laws governing customs duties has come a step closer.

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) released a draft Customs Control Bill together with the draft Customs Duty Bill last week, nine years after former finance m inister Trevor Manuel said in 2000 the law was "outdated" and would be revised.

This was necessary to bring the act into line with other domestic legislation and with international conventions such as the Kyoto Protocol, said Kosie Louw, SARS chief officer for legal and policy affairs.

The revision was also aimed at enhancing protection of the domestic economy.

Louw told a meeting arranged by SARS and the Ministry of Finance for consultation with business that said SA required a new legislative framework that was simpler to understand and supported a fast-paced international trade environment.

Further, the new law needed to provide for the levying, payment and recovery of customs duties on goods imported or exported from SA, he said.

"The overhaul of the Customs and Excise Act is long overdue, so we are very pleased to see the changes that SARS will be tabling before Parliament. SA's current act lags behind the rest of the world and we hope that this will bring our customs and excise laws into international alignment," said Jed Michaletos, a director of t ax at Deloitte.

The existing Customs and Excise Act was written at a time when all transactions were done on paper, he said . SARS was using the opportunity to bring the act in line with their other modernisation techniques, such as electronic clearances. Growing from 128 sections to more than 800, the new draft pieces of legislation would provide much needed clarification on the various customs and excise laws.

Included in the new legislation would be more definitions, including grouping of specific sections which deal with each area of customs law. While a few new concepts had been introduced, many of the changes were a revision of familiar concepts, with new terminologies added to ensure that the acts and their associated guidelines were in line with international law.

The new acts constituted the first phase of the modernisation project, Louw said. The second phase would involve the drafting of an e xcise b ill.

"Given the fact that it has taken a decade for SARS to revise the act, and the magnitude of the changes, we would appeal for more time for business to be able to digest this thick piece of legislation and to be able to draft meaningful comments," said Michaletos.

"One would have expected SARS to engage with industry beforehand given the importance of the changes."