SACU ANNOUNCES MAJOR SYSTEM CHANGE

MBABANE – From the beginning of this year, all SACU member States are said to have simultaneously implemented the 2022 version of the Harmonised System (HS) Nomenclature.

This is in the context of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) Common External Tariff (CET), which has replaced the HS 2017 version. Eswatini is a member of the regional body alongside Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. This is the first time that SACU member States migrated the CET to a new version of the HS in a well-coordinated manner across the Customs Union, with the support of the SACU Secretariat. In their statement, Paulina Elago, who is Executive Secretary of SACU said migration was also made possible by the technical support from the World Customs Organisation (WCO) under a programme known as the HS-Africa Programme, funded by the European Union (EU).

adopted

The HS 2022 version reflects the amendments to the HS Nomenclature as adopted by the WCO Council and accepted by HS Contracting Parties in accordance with Article 16 of the International Convention on the Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System (HS Convention) of the WCO. SACU member States, being contracting parties to this convention, are required to align their Customs and Statistical Nomenclatures with this latest version of the HS. The Preparation for the migration of the SACU CET from HS 2017 to HS 2022 started in 2019, with the support of the HS-Africa Programme.

Under this Programme, member countries developed a migration framework to facilitate the transition to new versions of the HS; and established a SACU Working Group to spearhead the HS migration, among other things. HS 2022 is the seventh edition of the HS and a result of a major revision of the HS, since its adoption by the WCO Council in 1983, implemented in 1988. The HS 2022 includes 351 sets of amendments affecting various sectors such as agriculture, food and tobacco; chemicals; wood; textiles; base metals; machinery; and transport.
The changes were necessitated by, among 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.

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