Customs @ Wylie is an initiative of Shepstone & Wylie’s Shipping and Logistics Division.
We offer national and international advice on all aspects of import, export, trade and logistics-related issues.
We have offices in Durban, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Richards Bay and Pietermaritzburg.
Customs @ Wylie can assist clients in developing plans, policies and procedures, and in looking at cost effective and practical solutions to streamline operations. We also assist clients with disputes and litigation, where unavoidable.
The Team
Shepstone & Wylie was established in 1892 and has specialised in matters of an international transport and trade nature for over 115 years.
Shepstone & Wylie’s Shipping and Logistics Division has been at the forefront of some of the most significant Supreme Court of Appeal decisions on transport, trade and customs related issues.
This has gained Shepstone & Wylie the respect of South African Revenue Service and International Trade Administration Commission, who recognise the team’s technical ability, as well as its integrity.
Our team is one of the largest specialised units within any law firm in South Africa and boasts experience in South Africa and internationally.
The team has a vast collective wealth of knowledge and experience in import, export, trade and regulatory issues. In addition to having some of the top lawyers in the country in this area of law, the team includes members who previously were at the South African Revenue Service legal department at head office, previous members of the Bar, ex-revenue service tariff and policy specialists, and practitioners who previously headed up major South African companies’ tax departments and auditing firms.
It is this unique depth and breadth of the team that is one of our major strengths.
Customs@Wylie’s services include:-
Audits
- Conducting audits of your Customs and Excise facilities to prevent non-compliance and encourage corrective measures, as an in-house quality assurance mechanism
- Conducting due diligence audits for prospective purchasers or for joint ventures
- Dispute Resolution
- Responses to Letters of Intent, withdrawal of letters of demands, Internal Administrative Appeals (IAA) and Alternative Dispute Resolutions (ADR). Resolving disputes and making representations to Customs or other regulatory authorities on your behalf
- Debt resolution and payment plans
- Information
Keeping clients up to date and providing them with the necessary tools for business through:-
- Customs@Wylie newsletter, which we circulate regularly, containing current and relevant Customs related issues and information
- Training your staff on relevant Customs and Excise topics – at your premises or ours to address specific issues
- Seminars on new or important issues
Litigation
- Defending demands or claims by SARS, ITAC or third parties
- Taking adverse decisions of the Authorities on review or appeal
- Compelling the production of information (PAIA) or reasons (PAJA)
- All matters by way of motion (application) or trials
Recoveries
- Recovering your money, for:-
- Refunds
- Rebates
- Drawbacks
- Liquidation of Provisional Payments
- Release of Guarantees
- Registrations
Registering, licensing and helping you stay within the boundaries of Customs facilities including:-
- SARS Accredited Clients Scheme
- Warehouses and Rebate Stores
- Operating within the IDZ
- Importer, Exporter, Clearing Agents
- Deferments
- Container Terminals & Depots
- Permits
- Technical Opinions
Providing technical opinions on:-
- Alternative solutions for Temporary Imports
- Tariff Classification
- Customs Valuations
- Preferential Agreements
- Goods in Overstay
- Trade Remedies
- Anti-Dumping Duties or Sunset Reviews; Countervailing Duty & Safeguard action
- Applications for increases or decreases in rates of duty
- Application for consideration of new tariff sub-headings
- Sanitary and technical specifications
- Enhancing market access in export markets
- Consistency of measures with international trade rules
- Trade facilitation
- Capacity building – trade policy
- Governmental purchases of South African products
- Industry analysis
Our team has experience in dealing with the South African Revenue Services (SARS), the Department of Trade and Industry (the DTI), the International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC), the WTO, the European Commission and several trade agencies around the world.
Contact: Customs @ Wylie
Tel:- +27 31 575 7000
Fax:- +27 31 575 7100
Email: customs@wylie.co.za
