The World Trade Organisation (WTO) announced on May 28 that seven universities from Benin, Brazil, Indonesia, Oman, South Africa, Tunisia and Turkey had been added to its chairs programme, the WCP. The WCP was launched in 2010 as a pilot capacity-building project aimed at enhancing knowledge and understanding of the multilateral trading system among academics and students in developing countries through teaching, research and outreach activities in research institutions.

According to the WTO, for the second phase of the programme, the number of participating institutions will be expanded to 21. This phase will run to May 30, 2018, and will be funded through support from the Netherlands. The new chairs selected will expand the current network of the 14 existing chairs. The WTO secretariat will continue to work with the current chairs, who will benefit from scientific and trade-related technical assistance support. Among the seven selected institutions is South Africa’s North-West University, which is represented by Professor Wilma Viviers.

According to the WTO, the new chairs were selected from a total of 77 proposals received through a competitive process led by its secretariat with the support of the WCP advisory board, an external advisory body comprising 21 scholars whose role is to ensure the academic quality of outputs generated by chair holders and their teams. The selection process took into account criteria such as potential for developing capacities at the host institution, relevance of research topics to trade policy and WTO-related issues, quality of research proposals, prospects to offer new courses or update current ones, potential for interaction with policy-making institutions (such as government departments), ability to establish networks with other academic institutions, future sustainability of the activities and capability to maintain an appropriate team in the host institution to collaborate with the chair holder.

The WCP is implemented through partnership agreements between the WTO secretariat and the selected institutions. The WTO provides financial, scientific and technical support for its partners in three interdependent pillars, namely research, curriculum development and outreach activities, for up to four years. At the end of this period, it is intended that programmes will be consolidated and continued, possibly with financial support from other sources.

The WCP will assist national academic institutions in providing students with a deeper understanding of trade policy issues. Through analytical input into the formulation and implementation of trade policy, the WCP will help strengthen the participation of the beneficiary countries in international trade.

Yemen to Be WTO’s Newest Member
On May 27, the WTO announced that Yemen had deposited its instrument of acceptance, confirming its WTO membership terms, and is set to become a full-fledged member on June 26. In the instrument of acceptance, the Yemeni government declared that the law approving Yemen’s protocol of accession, enacted by Parliament, had been issued by the President of Yemen on May 11.

Yemen applied for WTO membership in April 2000. It completed its application process on September 26, 2013, when the working party concluded its accessions negotiations and adopted the report of the working party ad referendum (that is, subject to formal approval by the Ministerial Conference). Trade Ministers of WTO members officially approved Yemen’s accession on December 4, 2013, during the ninth Ministerial Conference, in Bali, Indonesia. The protocol of accession was signed by Yemeni Minister of Trade and Industry Dr Saadaldeen Talib and WTO director-general Roberto Azevêdo.

Yemen is the seventh least-developed country (LDC) to accede to the multilateral trading system since the WTO was established in 1995. According to the WTO, as an LDC, Yemen will benefit from technical assistance and capacity building from the WTO secretariat to support the implementation of its accessions commitments, negotiate trade rules and develop the trade-related skills and infrastructure needed to benefit from its WTO membership.

Paper and Paperboard Duty Increase
The proposed increase in the rate of customs duty on paper and paperboard coated, impregnated or covered with plastic classifiable under tariff subheading 4811.59.90, and other paper, paperboard and cellulose fibres classifiable under tariff subheading 4811.90.90 from free of duty to 5% ad valorem by the creation of additional eight-digit tariff subheadings, as follows: tariff subheading 4811.59.xx (paper and paperboard fibres combined with plastic film, printed and the thickness of the plastic film may not exceed 50 µm) and tariff subheading 4811.90.xx (paper and paperboard, cellulose and wadding and webs of cellulose fibres, combined with metal foil, printed and the thickness of the metal foil may not exceed 15 µm).

The application was lodged by Nampak Flexible, which stated that the application is made to ensure to duty protection for a group of printed laminates between paper, foil and polymers, in line with other flexible laminates, and close the current loophole whereby these products carry no duty owing to the paper components being the thickest components of the construction and all paper products currently carry no duty.
Comment is due by June 20.

Customs Control Area Tariff Amendment
On May, 30 the South African Revenue Service (Sars) informed of the insertion of Note 8 of Schedule No 3 (industrial rebates of customs duties) in the Customs and Excise Act to allow manufacturers in a customs-controlled area (CCA). The note reads: “8. Goods may be entered under any rebate item of this schedule by a CCA enterprise, as contemplated in rule 21A.01, and registered in terms of such item, provided (a) the CCA enterprise complies with any notes to that item and this schedule and Section 75; and (b) the value-added tax (Vat) is paid on goods imported by the CCA enterprise under any item in this schedule.”

Taxation papers
On April 29, the National Treasury released the Carbon Offsets Paper and, on May 5, it released the Review of the Taxation of Alcoholic Beverages in South Africa. Comment is due by June 30.

Vat Vendors Registration
On May 16, Sars published draft regulations for registration as Vat vendors. Comment is due by June 30.

Professional Foreign Hunters Vat
On May 5, Sars published a draft interpretation note on the supply of goods and services by professional foreign hunters, which explains the Vat treatment of various supplies to foreign hunters, including hunting services, taxidermy services, the supply of a trophy as well as the subsequent export of the trophy. Comment is due by June 30.