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Customs And Excise Duty - General (Ss 1-2)


Published: 1970-06-17

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ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

 

PART I
General

 

SECTION

 

1.        Short title

2.        Interpretation

 

PART II
Administration, General Duties and Powers of Director and
 Officers, and Application of Act

 

3.        Administration and duties of Director

4.        Delegation of duties and powers of Director

5.        Duties and powers of Permanent Secretary, Commerce and Industry

6.        General duties and powers of officers

 

PART III
Importation, Exportation and Transit of Goods

 

7.        Appointment of places of entry, authorized roads and routes, etc.

8.        Report of arrival or departure of aircraft

9.        Sealing of goods on board aircraft

10.        When goods deemed to be imported

11.        No landing or loading of goods without permission

12.        Goods imported or exported overland

13.        Goods imported or exported by post

14.        Persons entering or leaving Botswana

15.        Opening of packages in absence of importer or exporter

16.        State warehouse

17.        Removal of goods in bond

18.        Exportation of goods from customs and excise warehouse

 

PART IV
 Customs and Excise Warehouses: Storage and Manufacture
 of Goods in Warehouses

 

19.        Customs and excise warehouses

20.        Goods in customs and excise warehouses

21.        Special customs and excise warehouses

22.        Samples of goods in a customs and excise warehouse

23.        Storage or manufacture of prohibited goods

24.        Aircraft stores consumed in Botswana

25.        Sorting, packing, etc. in customs and excise storage warehouses

26.        Transfer of ownership or pledging or hypothecation of warehoused goods

27.        Special provisions in respect of customs and excise manufacturing warehouses

28.        Ascertaining quantity of spirits by measuring the mass or volume

29.        Classification of spirits

30.        Control of the use of spirits for certain purposes

31.        Entry of spirits for use in manufacture

32.        Ascertaining strength of spirits

33.        Requirements in respect of stills

34.        Special provisions regarding spirits manufactured by agricultural distillers

35.        Special provisions regarding wine

36.        Special provisions regarding cigarettes and cigarette tobacco

37.        Specific provisions regarding beer

38.        Special provisions in respect of the manufacture of excisable goods and the collection of excise duty

39.        Duties applicable to goods manufactured in a customs and excise warehouse

39A.      Special provision in respect of marked goods, certain goods being free of duty

 

PART V
 Clearance and Origin of Goods: Liability for and Payment of
 Duties

 

40.        Entry of goods and time of entry

41.        Importer and exporter to produce documents and pay duties

42.        Sale in transit

43.        Validity of entries

44.        Particulars on invoices

45.        Disposal of goods on failure to make due entry

46.        Liability for duty

47.        Determination of duty applicable

48.        Joint and several liability for duty or certain amounts

49.        Origin of goods

50.        Preferential tariff treatment

51.        Establishment of Fund

52.        Payment of duty and rate of duty applicable

53.        Prohibition of certain acts in respect of certain goods not duly entered

54.        General amendment of Schedules

55.        Amendment of Schedule No. 1

56.        Minister may amend Schedules under certain circumstances

57.        Agreement with other governments

58.        Agreements with African territories

58A.      Imposition of fuel levy by party to customs union agreement

59.        Discrimination by other countries

60.        Special provisions regarding importation of cigarettes

 

PART VI
 Anti-dumping, Countervailing and Safeguard Duties

 

61.        General provisions regarding anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard duties

62.        Imposition of anti-dumping duties

63.        Imposition of countervailing duties

64.        Imposition of a safeguard duty

65.        Provisional charges to anti-dumping duties

 

PART VII
 Amendment of Duties

 

66.        Time when new or increased duties become payable

67.        Contract prices may be varied to extent of alteration in duty

 

PART VIII
 Licensing

 

68.        Licence fees according to Schedule No. 8

69.        Customs and excise warehouse licences

70.        Agricultural distillers

71.        Stills to be licensed

72.        Special warehouses for the manufacture of wine

73.        Container depot licences

74.        Clearing agent licences

 

PART IX
 Value

 

75.        Value for customs duty purposes

76.        Transaction value

77.        Adjustments to price actually paid or payable

78.        Value for excise duty purposes

79.        Value of certain specified goods

80.        Value of goods exported

81.        Conversion of prices expressed in foreign currency

82.        Value of goods not liable to ad valorem duty

83.        Interpretation of sections 75, 76 and 77

 

PART X
 Rebates, Refunds and Drawbacks of Duty

 

84.        Specific rebates, drawbacks and refunds of duty

85.        General refunds in respect of imported goods or excisable goods

85A.      Limitation on refund claims

85B.      Set-off on refund against amount of tax owing

86.        Recovery of certain amounts not duly payable

87.        Set-off of certain amounts

 

PART XI
 Penal Provisions

 

88.        Offences not expressly mentioned

89.        Less serious offences and their punishment

90.        Serious offences and their punishment

91.        Non-declaration of goods

92.        Prohibition with regard to stamps

93.        Irregular export or carriage of munition

94.        Irregular dealing with or in goods

95.        False documents and declarations

96.        Beer of higher density than indicated by label on container

97.        Certain specified offences

97A.      Publication of particulars of offenders

98.        Goods irregularly dealt with liable to forfeiture

99.        Seizure

100.        Notice of claim by owner in respect of seized goods

101.        Disposal of seized goods

102.        Admission of guilt

103.        Payment and disposal of fines and penalties

104.        Remission or mitigation of penalties and forfeiture

105.        Recovery of penalties by process of law

106.        Jurisdiction of courts

107.        Period for bringing action

 

PART XII
 General

 

108.        Approval of container operators

109.        Container operator or pilot may appoint agent

110.        Liability of principal for acts of agent

111.        Liability of agent for obligations imposed on principal

111A.      Registration with Director

112.        Agent may be called upon to produce written authority

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

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

115.        Liability of company, partnership, etc.

116.        Interest on outstanding amounts

117.        Samples

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

119.        Control in respect of manufacturers of certain goods, etc.

120.        Destruction of goods and detention of vehicles

121.        Instruments and tables

122.        Registration of imported motor vehicles

123.        Wreck

124.        Prohibitions and restrictions

125.        Duty constitutes a debt to the State

126.        Entries, oaths, etc. made outside Botswana of full force and effect

127.        Manufacture of excisable goods solely for use by the manufacturer thereof

128.        Statistics

128A.      Delegation of powers and assignment of duties

129.        Substitution of Schedules

130.        Regulations

 

    Schedules No. 1 to No. 9 inclusive.

 

Act 22, 1970,
Act 37, 1970,
Act 78, 1970,
Act 6, 1971,
Act 15, 1972,
Act 36, 1972,
Act 37, 1973,
Act 4, 1974,
Act 10, 1975,
Act 18, 1975,
S.I. 145, 1975,
Act 15, 1976,
S.I. 159, 1976,
Act 19, 1977,
Act 39, 1977,
Act 30, 1978,
Act 30, 1979,
Act 26, 1980,
Act 26, 1983,
Act 31, 1983,
Act 11, 1985,
Act 12, 1986,
Act 23, 1986,
Act 11, 1988,
S.I. 65, 1988,
Act 8, 1989,
Act 13, 1989,
Act 17, 1990,
Act 10, 1991,
Act 16, 1991,
Act 14, 1992,
Act 12, 1993,
Act 4, 1994,
Act 9, 1994,
Act 8, 2001,
Act 31, 2004.

An Act to provide for the levying of customs and excise duties and a surcharge; the prohibition and control of the importation, export or manufacture of certain goods; and for matters incidental thereto.

[Date of Commencement: 17th June, 1970]

[i]A decision has been made not to reproduce the Schedules to this Act, owing to the frequency with which they are amended.

 

1.       Short title

 

            This Act may be cited as the Customs and Excise Duty Act.

 

2.       Interpretation

 

            (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise indicates, any reference to customs and excise or matters relating thereto shall be deemed to include a reference to fiscal, sales duty and surcharge or matters relating thereto; and-

            "additional duty" means any duty leviable under Part 7 of Schedule No. 1 on goods imported into Botswana;

            "agricultural distiller" means any owner or occupier of land who-

     (a)     is licensed to keep a still on such land; and

     (b)     is licensed to distill spirits on such land from grapes or other prescribed fresh fruit grown by him on such land;

             "common customs area" means the combined areas of Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland;

            "container depot" means any container depot contemplated in section 7(1)(j);

            "container operator" means any person providing international transportation of containerized goods, and approved by the Director, under section 108, for operating containers in Botswana;

            "container terminal" means any container terminal contemplated in section 7(1)(i);

            "crew" includes every person (except the pilot) employed in any capacity on board any aircraft;

            "customs duty" means, subject to the provisions of subsection (3), any duty leviable under Schedule No. 1 (except Parts 4 and 5 thereof) or Schedule No. 2 on goods imported into Botswana;

            "department" means the Department of Customs and Excise;

            "depot operator" means the person having charge of any container depot;

            "Director" means the Director of Customs and Excise and includes an officer acting under the control or direction of the Director;

            "disruptive competition" means the export or the proposed export of goods to Botswana, other than dumping or subsidized export, in quantities and under circumstances which cause or may cause material injury to established industries in Botswana or which may retard the establishment of industries in Botswana;

            "dumping" means the export or the proposed export of goods to Botswana-

     (a)     at an export price lower than the price at which similar goods are being sold in the ordinary course of trade in the exporting country, for consumption there;

     (b)     at an export price lower than the highest comparable price at which similar goods are being exported in the ordinary course of trade from the exporting country to any third country;

     (c)     at an export price lower than the cost of production or the estimated cost of production of the goods concerned in the country of origin and any other costs and profit which the Minister deems reasonable;

     (d)     at an export price lower than the comparable price at which similar goods are being exported to Botswana from any other country;

            "duty" means any duty leviable under this Act;

            "entry for home consumption" includes entry under any item in Schedule No. 3, 4 or 6;

            "excisable goods" means any goods specified in Part 2 of Schedule No. 1 which have been manufactured in Botswana;

            "excise duty" means any duty leviable under Part 2 of Schedule No. 1 on any goods manufactured in Botswana;

            "excise value" means value as defined in section 78;

            "exporter" includes any person who, at the time of exportation-

     (a)     owns any goods exported;

     (b)     carries the risk of any goods exported;

     (c)     represents that or acts as if he is the exporter or owner of any goods exported;

     (d)     actually takes or attempts to take any goods from Botswana;

     (e)     is beneficially interested in any way whatever in any goods exported;

     (f)      acts on behalf of any person referred to in paragraph (a), (b), (c), (d) or (e), and, in relation to imported goods, includes the manufacturer, supplier or shipper of such goods or any person inside or outside Botswana representing or acting on behalf of such manufacturer, supplier or shipper;

            "fiscal duty" means any duty leviable under Column III of Part I to Schedule No. 1 and under Column IV of Part 2 to Schedule No. 1 on goods imported into Botswana;

            "Fund" means the Fund designated by the Minister under the provisions of section 51;

             "fuel levy" means any duty leviable under Part 5 of Schedule 1 on any goods which have been manufactured in, or imported into Botswana;

            "fuel levy goods" means any goods specified in Part 5 of Schedule 1 which have been manufactured in, or imported into Botswana;

            "goods" includes all wares, articles, merchandise, animals, currency, matter or things;

            "home consumption" means consumption or use in Botswana;

            "illicit goods", in relation to imported or excisable goods or surcharge goods, means any such goods in respect of which any contravention under this Act has been committed, and includes any preparation or other product made wholly or in part from spirits or other materials which were illicit goods;

            "importer" includes any person who, at the time of importation-

     (a)     owns any goods imported;

     (b)     carries the risk of any goods imported;

     (c)     represents that or acts as if he is the importer or owner of any goods imported;

     (d)     actually brings any goods into Botswana;

     (e)     is beneficially interested in any way whatever in any goods imported;

     (f)      acts on behalf of any person referred to in paragraph (a), (b), (c), (d) or (e);

            "land" includes off-loading from any vehicle;

            "L.C.L. container" means any container containing goods consigned from one or more exporters to more than one importer;

             "manufacture", when used as a noun, includes, in the discretion of the Director, any process-

     (a)     in the manufacture or assembly of any excisable goods;

     (b)     in the conversion of any goods into excisable goods;

     (c)     whereby the dutiable quantity or value of any imported goods specified in Section B of Part 2 of Schedule No. 1, or excisable goods is increased in any manner;

     (d)     in the recovery of excisable goods from excisable goods or any other goods; or

     (e)     in the packing or measuring off of any imported goods specified in Section B of Part 2 of Schedule No. 1, excisable goods; and when used as a verb, has a corresponding meaning; and "manufacturer" has a corresponding meaning;

            "notice" includes an instrument made by statutory instrument;

            "officer" means a person employed on any duty relating to customs and excise by order or with the concurrence of the Director, whether such order has been given or such concurrence has been expressed before or after the performance of the said duty;

            "owner" includes any person lawfully acting on behalf of the owner;

            "package" means any container, wrapping or outer cover and its contents, or any bundle or single piece in the case of unpacked goods;

            "pilot", in relation to any aircraft, means any person having charge of such aircraft;

            "plant" includes vessels, utensils, appliances and fittings;

            "South Africa" means the area in respect of which the Government of the Republic of South Africa is a contracting party to the Geneva Agreement on Tariffs and Trade;

            "State warehouse" means any premises provided by the State for the deposit of goods for the security thereof and of the duties due thereon, or pending compliance with the provisions of any law in respect of such goods;

            "still" means any apparatus for, or capable of, distilling spirits and includes any part thereof;

            "still maker" means a person who manufactures or imports stills for sale and includes a person who repairs stills for reward;

            "subsidized export" means the export or the proposed export of goods to Botswana from any country where the authority of that country or any other country provides any form of financial aid or other assistance in respect of those goods, including assistance in respect of the production, manufacture, transport or export thereof;

            "surcharge" means any duty leviable under Part 4 of Schedule No. 1 on any goods which have been imported into Botswana;

            "surcharge goods" means any goods specified in Part 4 of Schedule No. 1 which have been imported into Botswana;

            "unit of account" means a monetary sum equal to a unit of the currency in circulation in the remainder of the common customs area;

            "vehicle" means any aircraft, train, motor car, van, truck, cart, barrow or other conveyance of any kind whatsoever, and includes the fitting, furnishings and equipment thereof, and also pack animals and their harness and tackle;

            "wine-grower" means any person who cultivates vines and who produces wine from grapes grown on such vines;

            "worts" means any liquid substance containing saccharine matter before fermentation has commenced.

            (2) In this section, except in the definition of "package", and in sections 7, 8, 17, 40, 73 and 98(2), "container" means transport equipment-

     (a)     having an internal volume of not less than one cubic metre; and

     (b)     designed for the transport of goods by any means of carriage, without intermediate reloading.

            (3) For the purposes of the Customs Union Agreement between the Governments of the Republic of Botswana, the Kingdom of Lesotho, Namibia, the Republic of South Africa and the Kingdom of Swaziland referred to in section 58(3), "customs duty" includes any duty leviable under Part 4 of Schedule No. 1 on goods imported into Botswana.