A much-awaited edition of the World Customs Journal has been published and is available on their website follow this link. In his editorial, Professor David Widdowson reflects on the recent WCO conference on Excise Administration and Enforcement.  “An important subject for discussion at the Excise Summit was the increasing incidence of illicit international trade, particularly in relation to alcohol and tobacco products, and we are pleased to provide a useful overview of the topic in Section 3 of this edition of the World Customs Journal”, states Professor Widdowson (World Customs Journal, vol. 6, no. 2, p. v).  It is not often that the subject of Excise attracts much or any real conference publicity, so it is all the more a treat to have such a bumper edition on the subject with papers and articles from academics and practitioners.

In South Africa, the subject is somewhat subdued given the emphasis and prominence accorded to the Customs Modernisation Programme. Of late there have been determined efforts within the SARS administration to initiate some focus on Excise. This is only right since many of the so-called excise manufacturers and supporting industries play a significant role not only towards their contribution to the South African fiscus, but likewise have linkages with the import and export logistics supply chain. For this reason alone, the WCJ September 2012 Edition comes at a fortuitous time. I would also encourage you to read the article by Elizabeth Allen (a collaborator on my blog) titled – The Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products and How to Tackle It. 

Related articles

• Picard 2012 – with a South African perspective (mpoverello.com)