Assurer: Tariff Amendments

About the Position

SARS is looking for a highly skilled customs official with unquestionable integrity to ensure the Schedule to the Customs and Excise Act, 91 of 1964 (the Act) published on the SARS website is accurate. The ideal candidate will ensure that the tariff subheadings and descriptions used in the publication are in line with the Harmonized System Nomenclature and South African Tariff structure. They will ensure that all completed work in the division is quality assured and adhere to governance and legislative requirements.

The role demands strong technical knowledge of Customs and Excise and the ability to do legal research, analyse import data and prepare reports, recommendations and presentations where required. The candidate must be able to work well within a team or individually. A strong customs and excise knowledge is crucial to interpret and analyse various trade agreements and other trade instruments as required to meet the strategic objectives of SARS.

Job Purpose

To quality check draft amendments for the Minister of Finance’s approval To quality assure all submissions related to amendments to the Schedules of the Customs and Excise Act by ensuring the accuracy, quality, and ongoing maintenance including historical records of data across all legacy and new tariff management systems, as well as internal and external tariff publications, in alignment with legislative, national, and international requirements.

Education and Experience

Minimum Qualification & Experience Required 

National Diploma / Advanced Certificate (NQF 6) ) in International Trade, Economics, Commerce, Business or Law AND 2 - 3 years’ related experience, in a tariff classification or tariff management environment with a thorough knowledge of the schedules to the Customs and Excise Act, of which 1 – 2 years at a knowledge worker level

ALTERNATIVE#

Senior Certificate (NQF 4) AND 5 years’ experience, in tariff classification or tariff management environment with a thorough knowledge of the schedules to the Customs and Excise Act. A thorough understanding of the Harmonised System, the architecture of a clearing and/or publishing system and the interaction surrounding this environment would be preferred. of which 1 - 2 years at a knowledge worker level

Additional Technical Experience

GOC Confidential - (a) sensitive information, the unlawful disclosure of which may be harmful to the security or national interest of the Republic or could prejudice the Republic in its international relations;(b) commercial information, the disclosure of which may cause financial loss to an entity or may prejudice an entity in its relations with its clients, competitors, contractors and suppliers. E.g. Taxpayer information.

Job Outputs

• Draft, review, quality-assure and finalise amendment instruments and supporting documents.


• Run governance & publication: manage approvals, public comment, consideration of submissions, and publication in the Government Gazette.


• Implement policy directives: give effect to HS updates; trade agreements/policy directives (dtic/ITAC); and indirect tax policy matters (National Treasury).


• Quality assurance & risk: implement structured reviews; identify and mitigate legal, operational and fiscal risks before implementation.


• Monitoring & insights: track utilisation/impact post-implementation; recommend improvements to drafting methods, templates and processes.

Process

• Accumulate information and provide reports with recommendations applicable to area of specialisation. (I)


• Apply practical and applied knowledge and act authoritatively on methods, systems and procedures to identify trends and potential risks. (I)


• Communication of situational interpretation and judgement of work outputs and queries in area of specialisation. (I)


• Correctly apply policies, practices, standards, procedures and legislation in the delivery of work outputs. (I)


• Effectively plan and schedule own activities to continuously improve quality and service delivery in area of specialisation. (I)


• Execute process and procedural change, implement the change and provide guidelines and support related to new requirements as a result of the change. (I)


• Provide specialist input through the investigation of opportunities for operational and process, product and risk optimisation. (I)


• Use practical and applied knowledge and situational judgement to arrive at decisions. (I)


• Legislative drafting & statutory interpretation: Proven ability to translate policy intent into clear, defensible legal text and schedules.


•  Tariff & HS mastery: Advanced knowledge of Customs & Excise Act, Harmonized System (HS) structure, Section/Chapter/Heading Notes, GRIs (1–6), and SARS classification principles.


• Research & analysis: Ability to conduct legal research, analyse utilisation/impact data, and prepare high-quality recommendations and publications.


• Governance & publication: Experience navigating SARS governance, public-comment processes and Government Gazette publication.


• Communication: Excellent written and verbal communication, with the ability to produce persuasive, accurate drafting notes and briefs.


• Provide updated Schedules for loading on the SARS website to ensure that the updates and publications are aligned with legislation.

Governance

• Comply to set governance and compliance procedures and processes related to an area of specialisation and continuously identify and escalate risks. (I)

People

• Develop and maintain productive working relationships with peers and team members to achieve predefined objectives. (I)


• Maintain professional interaction and ensure ethical dealings with clients at all times by constantly building customer relationships

Finance

• Adhere to organisational policies and procedures to ensure cost effectiveness and reduction of financial costs. (I)

Client

• Contribute to a culture of service excellence, which builds positive relationships and provides opportunity for feedback and exceptional service. (I)


• Ensure own understanding and adherence to customer service delivery and provide specialist support to meet or exceed customer expectations. (I)

Behavioural Competencies

• Accountability (V) - The acknowledgement and assumption of responsibility for actions, products, decisions, and policies within the scope of the role or employment position.


• Attention to Detail - The ability to take all relevant details into account to ensure that a task is completed to required standards.


• Commitment to Continuous Learning - Commitment to continuous learning is the commitment to think about current and future development needs


• Conceptual Ability - The ability to identify patterns or connections between situations that are not obviously related and to identify key or underlying issues in complex situation.


• Expertise in Context - Degree to which one possesses definitive technical and or fundamental understanding of the business


• Fairness and Transparency (V) - Build diverse and inclusive workplaces where decisions, practices, processes and transactions are transparent and fair.


• Honesty and Integrity (V) - The quality of being upright, truthful, sincere and freedom from deceit or fraud (H). Guided by values, ability to demonstrate moral judgement and doing the right thing consistently (I).


• Organisational Awareness - Ability to be considerate for self and others


• Trust (V) - Firm belief in the reliability, truth or ability of someone or something.

Technical Competencies

• Business Acumen - Understands main business drivers in order to impact on decision making and get things done


• Decision Making and Problem Solving - The extent to which an individual is able to recognise and analyse a problem and or a difficult situation and develop an appropriate and results oriented course of action


• Decisiveness - The confidence and ability to take timely and appropriate decisions


• Data Analysis- The ability to calculate the financial implications of tariff amendment


• Execute, Implement and Follow Through - Ability to pursue goals and objectives in a disciplined, focussed and persistent way delivering on position and project outputs within agreed budgets and time frames.


• Legal Compliance - Complies with relevant legislation, regulatory and professional standards


• Legal Knowledge and knowledge of ethics - Knowledge of applicable legislation and the legal policies and procedures pertaining to the local, regional and relevant international laws as well as relevant Codes.


• Reporting - Ability to create reports for various SARS stakeholders as relevant, in a lucid and effective manner, keeping in mind the purpose of the reports.


• Tariff and Classification (CUSTOMS EU FRAMEWORK) - All activities that Customs professionals deal with regarding the aspects of tariff and classification of goods from application, validation and usage of online databases, rules and regulations relating to use and application of measures.

Compliance Competency

GOC Confidential

Employment Equity

The Employment Equity policy of SARS will be considered as part of the recruitment and selection process and Persons with Disabilities are encouraged to apply. Successful candidates will be required to undertake an oath of secrecy, pre-employment screening, case study, pre-assessment, psychometric assessment and or vetting, and a declaration of private interest. The appointment is also subject to appropriate reference(s) and security clearance where applicable.