The new Customs Tariff, harmonized with the rules of the World Organization of Customs, enters into force on 9 August, attributing minimum rates to import of essential goods, announced the Ministry of Finance.
Defined by the Government and approved by the National Assembly in November 2017, the new Customs Tariff on Angola's import and export rights was published, by presidential decree of 9 May, and sets the priority for development of the national productive sector and the diversification of the economy, with measures that encourage and protect national production.
With the new customs tariff, for example, school books and medicines are exempt from fees, also favoring car assembly industries that invest in the country and need to import vehicle parts.
The customs tariff, still in force since 2013, was prepared based on the 2012 version of the harmonized system of the World Customs Organization. The new document sets minimum rates for the importation of essential goods for the population and others that the country still does not produce, said in November the Minister of Finance, Archer Mangueira.
The official said at the time that the customs tariff on import and export rights is a fiscal policy instrument with which the executive seeks to adopt measures to encourage and protect the national productive sector.
According to Archer Mangueira, the new customs tariff ensures economic diversification and the promotion of national production, with the aggravation of the rates of products that the country already has some production, pointing out the products of the basic basket, vegetables, alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, mineral water, beef and goat meat.
The approved diploma, with 2261 codes with free rates, 111 with increased rates and 400 with reduced rates, aims to promote the collection of essential taxes to support the expenses of the General State Budget.
Customs tariffs depend on the Harmonized Commodity Description System, a codification established by the World Customs Organization, whose new version came into force on 1 January 2017.
This change, in turn, requires the updating of the national Customs Tariff, which the Government says it wants to enhance. "In addition to this compliance obligation, there are economic policy objectives that the executive has been pursuing and wants to see reinforced within the framework of this revision", previously pointed out, at the beginning of the public discussion of the new version, the minister Archer Mangueira.
From the beginning, he said, the revision of the customs tariff, which the Government has used to create some protection for domestic production, increasing the cost of importing some products, aims to "fundamentally ensure macroeconomic stability and stimulate diversification" of the economy.
"We want to stimulate the increase in national production and the consequent increase in the supply of goods and services, we want to gradually reduce the import of certain goods, we want to facilitate licit trade, we want to reduce process times and costs customs", added Archer Mangueira.
The revision of the Customs Tariff moves forward with easing taxes on goods such as perfumes, to avoid smuggling, in addition to exempting imports of raw materials for the agricultural sector and taxing vehicles according to cylinder capacity.
In the case of perfumes, the director of the Customs Services of the General Tax Administration, explained that that entity made a study of these products in particular, having concluded that despite the strong increase in the customs rate applied in previous revisions (80 percent), revenues did not increase.
"On the other hand, we know that the quantities have not dropped, which suggests the development of the counterfeit market, and the same may be happening in watches", previously underlined Inalda da Conceição.
The official explained that this review will also have an impact on consumption tax, pointing out the example of water: "Whoever imports water will pay 60 percent of taxes, while whoever produces water here will only pay 10 percent".
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The Customs Tariff includes a 0.2 percent surcharge on imports, adopted in 2016, during the 27th summit of the African Union Head of State and Government, "in order to contribute to the financing" of the African Union itself. institution.
