IMPORTERS of steel and steel products are now required to submit Mill Test Certificates from the manufacturer of the product along with their customs declarations to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).The announcement was made by the GRA on Thursday. The authority said based on a recent review on the classification declared by importers of steel and related products, it was recognised that the Harmonized System (HS) classification cannot be correctly determined without the Mill Test Certificate.
“This Mill Test certificate shows the proportion of the elements contained in the steel imported, thus the need for the certificate to accompany each shipment of steel in accordance with the provisions of Section 233 (1) of the Customs Act, Chapter 82:01,” the statement said.
The Mill Test Certificate must relate at all times to the specific consignment in the declaration (invoices, Bills of Lading, quantities, specifications etc.) and can be facilitated by the supplier who would be able to obtain the certificate from the manufacturer. The Revenue Authority said the new requirement is in keeping with the Common External Tariff (CET), which also makes provisions for products of “non-alloy” steel that attract a 10% customs duty.
“Usually, most declarations submitted by importers label the product being imported as “alloy” steel which attracts five per cent customs duty. However, the Mill Test Certificate accompanying a shipment would assist in clearing up any anomalies as the certified classification will be verified by GRA’s Entry Processing Unit, with guidance from GRA’s Harmonized System Classification Committee (HSCC). The classification determined by the HSCC will be used to process and clear the consignments,” the statement added.
Should an importer fail to submit the Mill Test Certificate with the customs declaration, the importer would be required to deposit duty at a rate determined by the GRA pending submission of the certificate. If the HSCC determines a different classification subsequent to an examination of additional documents, a notice of demand will be issued to the importer under Section 17 (2) of the Customs Act, Chapter 82:01 for payment of the additional taxes.
“It must also be noted that importers have the option of presenting their case to the Customs Tariff Tribunal for a determination should they challenge the classification after depositing the duties requested by GRA.” The Revenue Authority advised that in the interest of time relative to the processing and clearance of the imported items, importers should apply to the HSCC in advance for classification decisions on their imports to confirm whether they have used the correct classifications. The HSCC can be contacted at GRA through its Secretary, Reshma Budhram, or at this email address classification@gra.gov.gy.