The Angolan Customs Tariff version 2017, based on the Harmonised System of Designation and Codification of Goods of the World Customs Organisation, will come into force on 9 August, following approval by presidential decree and publication in the official gazette, Diário da República, dated 9 May.

The document aims to provide Angola with a modern customs system, capable of meeting the challenges of its development, through national production, attracting investment, promoting employment of the national workforce, among other aspects that promote the economy, the decree said.

The Harmonised System is used internationally as a standardised system of coding and classification of import and export products. It is developed and maintained by the World Customs Organisation, which standardises goods using codes to facilitate trade negotiations and comparison of international statistics.

The presidential decree noted that the development of the national production sector and the diversification of the economy require the adoption of measures to encourage and protect national production, and therefore the regulation includes “measures to ensure the increase of national production in conjunction with other macroeconomic measures outlined in the government-defined strategy.”

Among other responsibilities, the General Tax Administration will issue and publish instructions and circulars containing the standards, instructions and procedures that have been approved, as well as guidelines and decisions of the World Customs Organisation Harmonised System Commission that are necessary to classify goods.

Preventing, combating and repressing the practice of fraud in the export of foreign currency, unauthorised international trade and illicit trafficking in narcotic or psychotropic substances, weapons, art objects or antiquities are included in the list of guidelines that the General Tax Administration must follow.

The Customs Tariff currently in force in Angola was drawn upon the basis of the 2012 version of the Harmonised System and entered into force in 2013. (macauhub)