Other International Agreements

The agreements on this part of the site include other tax cooperation agreements between tax and customs administrations, as well as other international instruments, such as the Generalized Systems of Preferences (GSPs), not fitting into the other categories listed on the navigation pane above. 

To access a summary of all these agreements, whether in the process of negotiation or finalised, signed but not ratified, ratified in South Africa only or those in force, an overview document can be accessed below.

Status OverviewLast updated on-
Status Overview of Other International Agreements/Instruments12 December 2014
 
Other International Agreements
CountryDate of entry into force

ATAF HCA on the hosting of the African Tax Administration Forum’s Secretariat in South Africa

(GG 38310 dated 12 December 2014) 

2 December 2013

IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa) Tax Cooperation Agreement

17 October 2007 

Other International Instruments

Other International Instruments include, inter alia, the –

  • preferential tariff treatment of textile and apparel articles under the AGOA by the United States of America
  • non-reciprocal preferential tariff treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) to developing  countries by Norway, the Republic of Turkey and the Russian Federation 

Provision has been made in section 46A of the Customs and Excise Act, 1964 and the rules thereto, for the administration of goods in relation to these instruments as follows:

  • Part 1 of the rules for section 46A – AGOA (African Growth and Opportunity Act)
  • Part 2 of the rules for section 46A – GSP for Norway
  • Part 3 of the rules for section 46A – GSP for the Russian Federation
  • Part 4 of the rules for section 46A – GSP for the Republic of Turkey

Therefore, with effect from 1 January 2014 –

  • the Form A (under the EU GSP) is not valid to qualify for preferential tariff treatment
  • an EUR 1 movement certificate (as under the TDCA) must be submitted

The Customs and Excise Rules under sections 46A, 49A and 59A, as well as the forms DA 185.4A2 and DA 185.4A7, are in the process of being amended accordingly.

AGOA

This is the acronym for the African Growth and Opportunity Act under which an agreement between the Government of the United States of America (USA) and the Government of the Republic of South Africa regarding mutual assistance between their customs administrations, specifically focused on the preferential tariff treatment of textile and apparel articles imported directly into the USA from South Africa, was concluded.

The preferential tariff treatment for AGOA has been taken up in Part 3 of Schedule No. 10 to the Customs and Excise Act, 1964.
 
Customs and Excise Act, 1964Description
Schedule No. 10Part 3Preferential tariff treatment of textile and apparel articles imported directly into the territory of the United States of America from the Republic as contemplated in the African Growth and Opportunity Act

Background Documents

AGOA ITitle 1 of the Trade and Development Act of 2000
AGOA IITrade Benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act – s.3108 of the Trade Act of 2002
AGOA IIIAGOA Acceleration Act of 2004
AGOA IVAfrica Investment Incentive Act of 2006

Generalized Systems of Preferences (GSPs)

 
The non-reciprocal systems of tariff preferences are offered by some developed countries to some developing countries without prior negotiations and agreements.
 
Due to the extensive number of background documents for these systems, the relevant website links are given here to assist you with keeping up to date with developments in the different countries.
 

The World Trade Organisation has a list of Preferential Trade Arrangements on their site, from where navigation to any of the preferential trade arrangements is possible.

  • Link: http://ptadb.wto.org/ptaList.aspx

European Union’s GSP documents:  Documents – Trade – European Commission (europa.eu)

NB: The EU GSP’s preferential tariff treatment excludes the Republic of South Africa with effect from 31 December 2013

Norway’s GSP documents:

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