1.1 A reference in this Annex to the Agreement, or an Article by number, is a reference to the Agreement establishing SACU, signed on 21 October 2002 or an Article in said Agreement, respectively.

"alternate Member" is a person appointed to serve on the Board by the Council to fulfil the duties and functions of a permanent Member on an ad hoc basis, only if the permanent Member is , for any reason, not able to fulfil his or her functions"

"customs tariff" includes customs duties, anti-dumping duties, countervailing duties, safeguard duties, rebates of customs duties, refunds of customs duties and drawbacks on customs duties and the provision for rebate certificates issued in terms of industrial development programmes in force in the Common Customs Area from time to time, but excludes any duties, rebates, refunds and drawbacks referred to in Article 21 of the Agreement;

"Executive Secretary" means the person appointed by the Council as contemplated in paragraph 3 of Article 8 and paragraph 5 of Article 10;

"Member" means a Member of the Tariff Board, including the Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson, additional permanent Members, and alternate Members, appointed by the Council in accordance with paragraph 4 of Article 8 and in terms of this Annex;

"National Body" means a National Body established or an institution designated by a Member State in accordance with Article 14;

"permanent Member" is a Member of the Board, appointed by the Council, who must on a permanent basis perform the duties and functions assigned to the Board, except if he or she is, for any reason, and only as an exception, not able to do so, in which case his or her alternate Member performs the duties and functions on an ad hoc basis; and

3.1 The Board consists of a Chairperson, a Deputy Chairperson and three additional permanent Members. Each Member State shall nominate a person or persons to serve as a permanent or an alternate Member and the Council must appoint one nominee from each Member State to serve on the Board as a permanent Member and one nominee from each Member State to serve the Board as an alternate Member.

3.2 The Chairperson of the Board shall be a permanent Member nominated by the Member State which at any particular time is the Chair of the Council of Ministers and has been appointed by the Council as a permanent Member, and the Chair of the Board shall rotate on the basis provided for in paragraph 10 of Article 8.

3.3 The Deputy Chairperson of the Board shall be a permanent Member nominated by the Member State, which, on the basis of rotation provided for in paragraph 10 of Article 8 is the incoming Chair of the Council of Ministers. Such Member becomes the next Chairperson of the Board.

3.4 If a permanent Member is not appointed in a full-time capacity, the Member State which nominates such person and is aware that such person is engaged in another profession, occupation or business, must be confident that the nominee's activities will not adversely affect the discharge of his or her responsibilities as a Board Member.

3.5 An alternate Member shall fulfil the functions of a permanent Member, only if such permanent Member is, for any reason, not able to do so.

3.6 The Council shall determine whether a permanent Member is appointed in a full-time or part-time capacity.

3.7 If a permanent Member is appointed in a full-time capacity, such Member shall be stationed at the Headquarters of SACU.

3.8 The term of appointment of a Member shall not exceed three years. If the term of office of a Member has expired, the Council may reappoint such a Member. A person may not serve as a Member for more than six consecutive years. If a vacancy arises as a result of the departure of a Member, the Council shall fill the vacancy.

3.9 The Council may change the status of a part-time Member to that of a full-time

Member, but may not change the status of a full-time Member to that of a part-time Member, except if such a full-time Member makes such a request to the Council.

3.10 The Council must determine the remuneration, allowances, benefits and other

conditions of appointment of a Member.

3.11 The Council may review the constitution of the Board.

4.1 The Chairperson is responsible and accountable to the Council for the functioning of the Board in accordance with Articles 8 and 11, and this Annex.

4.2 In the event of the Chairperson or the Deputy resigning or being removed from office before the end of his or her term of office, the Council must appoint a Chairperson or Deputy, as the case may be, for the rest of the twelve month period, nominated by the Member State who is holding the Chair or Deputy Chair, as the case may be, at the time.

4.3 The Chairperson may assign another Member to perform any functions of the Chairperson when the Chairperson or the Deputy is unable to perform those functions.

5.1 To be eligible for appointment and to continue to hold office as a Member, a person must -

6.2 If, at any time, it appears to a Member that a matter before the Board concerns the financial or similar personal interest of the Member, the Member must -

(c) Such a matter must be attended to by such Member's alternate.

6.3 A Member must comply with any code of conduct for Members prescribed by the Council and sign an undertaking to indicate that the Member understands and will abide by such code of conduct.

6.4 A copy of the code of conduct together with the signed undertaking referred to in subparagraph 3 shall be kept on record by the Secretariat.

7.1 A Member may, on one month's written notice addressed to the Council resign from the Board.

7.3 The Council may remove a Member from office [only] for -

8.1 Meetings of the Board will normally take place at the Headquarters of SACU except if there are compelling circumstances or reasons to meet elsewhere.

8.2 The Chairperson must convene ordinary meetings of the Board at least once per month, and he or she may convene extraordinary meetings when it is deemed necessary.

8.3 In the absence of the Chairperson, the Deputy may convene a meeting of the Board.

8.4 A simple majority of the permanent Members forms a quorum.

8.5 If both the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson are not present, the Members present at the meeting must nominate a Member to preside at that meeting.

8.6 Reports and recommendations received from National Bodies must be evaluated in accordance with guidelines and policies to be determined by the Council in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 8.

8.7 Decisions on recommendations regarding the customs tariff as provided for in paragraph 2 of Article 11, shall be made by consensus of the members presentof the members present.

8.8 In cases where consensus cannot be reached, the Board must immediately furnish the Council with a report on the matter, stating clearly and with full motivation in each case, the different opinions and recommendations of Members.

8.9 The Board must allow National Bodies to appear before it at its next meeting when a submission or report containing a recommendation on the customs tariff is considered. [and not supported by the Board or if the Board needs additional information or clarification.]

8.10 The Board may make rules of order for its proceedings, but any such rules of order must be consistent with the spirit of the Agreement and condoned accepted by Council at the earliest opportunity.

9.1 The Board must carry out the functions assigned to it in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 11.

9.3 Reports and recommendations received from National Bodies must be evaluated in accordance with guidelines and policies to be determined by the Council in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 8.

9.4 The Board must monitor, review, report to the Council and [,] advise the Council in respect of [,] any matter referred to it by the Council that affects or might affect trade and industry in the Common Customs Area.

10.1 Members must furnish the Secretariat with all the necessary information relating to their postal and street addresses, electronic mail addresses, telephone numbers and facsimile numbers to ensure quick, effective and efficient communication between the Secretariat and the Members and Members must ensure that the information is kept up to date.

10.2 Whenever a National Body receives an application for any amendment of the customs tariff and decides to investigate such application, such National Body must immediately notify the Secretariat of the application and furnish adequate information for the Board and other National Bodies in SACU to fully understand the nature and other details of the application. The Secretariat must be informed whether the application should be treated as urgent and the reasons for the urgency must be stated.

10.3 If a National Body, without an application having been received as contemplated in subparagraph 2, decides to initiate an investigation into any aspect regarding the customs tariff, it may do so if it has been granted such powers by the Government of the Member State involved. In such a case the same procedures will be followed as would be the case in a tariff application referred to in subparagraph 2.

10.4 The Secretariat must within two working days after having received a notification contemplated in subparagraphs 2 and 3 inform Members and all other National Bodies of such application or initiation.

10.5 Member States shall within ten [seven]seven working days after having received notification from the Secretariat referred to in subparagraph 4 publish all customs tariff applications or investigation initiatives in accordance with their Constitutions or laws and allow interested parties to comment on such applications within a period of four weeks in the case of urgent applications or investigation initiations, and six weeks in the case of other applications or investigation initiations after having published such tariff applications and investigation initiatives. Comments received within the relevant time limit of four or six weeks, as the case may be, must be collated by National Bodies and forwarded to the Secretariat within five working days after the closing date for comments. The Secretariat must collate comments received from all Member States and forward them to Members and all National Bodies within five working days.

10.6 National Bodies must within two weeks after having received notification of a customs tariff application referred to in subparagraphs 2, or the initiation of an investigation referred to in subparagraph 3 inform the Board and other National Bodies through the Secretariat if they have an interest in the application or envisaged investigation and state the nature of the interest.

10.7 As soon as a customs tariff investigation has been concluded and the National Body, or National Bodies, concerned is ready to make a recommendation to the Board on the matter, it must submit the outcome of the investigation together with recommendations in the form of a report to the Board and other National Bodies through the Secretariat.

10.8 The report referred to in subparagraph 7 must contain all relevant information, and be in an orderly format that is acceptable to the Board. Statistics and other data contained in such report must pertain to the SACU, and when SACU-wide information is not included in such report, the National Body or National Bodies submitting the report to the Board must give adequate reasons why the report is lacking such information.

10.9 The Board will endeavour to consider the report referred to in subparagraph 7 during its next meeting or as soon as possible thereafter.

10.10 In cases where a National Body submits a report with recommendations relating to remedial action against the exportation of goods from a country or territory outside the Common Customs Area into the Common Customs Area, the Board must meet and give a recommendation to the Council within 7 days and the Council will meet to take the final decision within the timeframe obligations of the WTO Agreement. meet and give a recommendation to the Council within 7 days and the Council will meet to take the final decision within the timeframe obligations of the WTO Agreement. [give priority to such a report, must meet and submit the Board's recommendation to the Council at the earliest possible opportunity.]

10.11 If a report is not of an urgent nature, does not contain adequate information and the Board is not able to make an informed decision on the matter, it may either return the report, only once, to the National Body or National Bodies concerned once and request more information concerning the matter being considered, or request the National Body or National Bodies involved to appear before the Board.

10.12 [If a report is of an urgent nature, the National Body or National Bodies submitting the report must inform the Board of the urgency of the report with the necessary motivation. If such an urgent report does not contain adequate information or has other shortcomings that in the opinion of the Board makes it impossible to make a decision on such report, it must request the National Body or National Bodies concerned to appear before it at its next meeting to furnish the necessary information and explanation that will make it possible for the Board to make an informed decision.]If no consensus can be reached on an urgent matter at the first meeting of the Board considering the matter, then provision 8.8 of this Annex will apply.

10.13 After the Board has considered a report submitted by a National Body or National Bodies, the Board will evaluate the report and submit the report to the Council together with the Board's comments and recommendations concerning the matter contained in the report in good time before the next Council meeting. If the recommendation contains a change in the customs tariff such a recommendation will include the envisaged date of implementation.

10.14 Whenever a recommendation by the Board concerning the customs tariff is of an urgent nature, the relevant Ministers of the Council must be informed accordingly and the Council may make standing arrangements with regard to such matters to approve or reject the Board's recommendation by other means or methods than a Council meeting as contemplated in paragraph 9 of Article 8.

10.15 If a customs tariff related recommendation by the Board is not of an urgent nature, the Council shall approve or reject such recommendation or refer such matter back to the Board for further consideration during a meeting referred to in paragraph 9 of Article 8.

10.16 The Council may allow the Board and/or National Bodiesand/or National Bodies to appear before it when recommendations concerning the customs tariff are considered during a meeting of the Council.

10.17 The Secretariat must, within one working day after the Council has approved a change in the customs tariff, inform the Board and all National Bodies of the Council's decision. The date for the implementation of a change in the customs tariff shall be not later than the first Friday following two weeks after National Bodies have been notified of such a change.

10.18 If the Council rejects a recommendation from the Board which would have brought about a change in the customs tariff, the Board must within one working day, through the Secretariat, inform all National Bodies accordingly.

10.19 All communications between different SACU institutions and between National Bodies relating to the customs tariff shall normally take place through the Secretariat. The Secretariat must be informed of any direct communication between SACU institutions, between National Bodies, and between National Bodies and other SACU institutions relating to the customs tariff.

10.20 Whenever a National Body appears before the Board, all expenditure related to such an appearance will be defrayed from funds provided by the National Body concerned and the Board shall not be responsible to cover such costs or budget for such expenditures.

Members will be defrayed by the Secretariat using funds budgeted for by the Board.

11.1 The Board must report to the Council on all matters referred to in paragraphs 9.4 and 9.5 of this Annex.

11.2 The Chairperson must within six months after the end of the financial year, prepare and submit to the Council an annual report in the form determined by the Council, containing the activities undertaken in terms of Article 11 of the Agreement and other activities undertaken in terms of this Annex, if applicable.

13.1 The Executive Secretary, in consultation with the Board and with the concurrence of the Council must, in order to ensure the effective and efficient operation of the Board, appoint a Chief Liaison Officer and other suitably qualified staff and provide such staff with office accommodation, furniture and equipment dedicated exclusively to assist the Board in carrying out its functions in an effective and efficient manner.

13.2 The Executive Secretary shall, in consultation with the Board, and with the concurrence of the Council, determine the remuneration, allowances, benefits and other conditions of appointment of each member of such dedicated staff.

13.3 The Executive Secretary must include, and list as a separately identifiable item in the Secretariat's budget, the anticipated annual running and fixed expenditure related to the staff employed in terms of subparagraphs 1 and 2.

13.4 Expenditure incurred, relating to the employment and activities of staff referred to in subparagraph 1, shall be shown separately in the accounts of the Secretariat.

13.5 If a Member (or Members) is appointed in a full-time capacity by the Council, is stationed at the SACU Headquarters and is in a position to oversee the work of the Chief Liaison Officer and other staff dedicated to serve the Board, such staff will be responsible to the Board.

13.6 Notwithstanding subparagraph 5, the Executive Secretary may report to the Chairperson and to the Chairperson of the Council behaviour of staff dedicated to serve the Board that, in his or her opinion, is not acceptable and does not contribute adequately to the effective and efficient operation of the Board or does not project a favourable image of SACU.

13.7 The Chairperson and the Chairperson of the Council shall investigate reports received in term of subparagraph 6 and take such action as they may deem necessary.

13.8 In the absence of a Member or Members who can oversee the work of the staff dedicated to serve the Board as contemplated in subparagraph 5, the staff dedicated to serve the Board will in the first place be responsible to the Executive Secretary.

13.9 The staff appointed to serve the Board in terms of subparagraph 1 shall be granted the same privileges by the Government of the Republic of Namibia as those granted to other staff members of the SACU Secretariat.

14.1 The Board will be financed from the Common Revenue Pool as provided for in Article 34.

14.2 The financial year of the Board is the period defined in Article 1, except that the first financial year of the Board begins on the date that the Agreement enters into force.

14.3 Each year, at the time when Member States' shares of the Common Revenue Pool are determined in accordance with Annex A to the Agreement, the Board must, in consultation with the Council and the Member State or SACU institution responsible for the management of the Common Revenue Pool as provided for in paragraph 1 of Article 33, submit to the Executive Secretary and the Council a budget of its estimated expenditure for the following financial year.

14.4 The Council must approve the budget referred to in subparagraph 3 and the Member State or SACU institution, which is responsible for the management of Common Revenue Pool in terms of Article 33, must transfer funds from the Common Revenue Pool to the Secretariat in good time and in such a manner that the Board will at all times be able to function effectively.

14.5 The Executive Secretary must ensure that the Board, its Members and the staff dedicated to serve the Board, receive funds in good time to ensure the effective and efficient functioning of the Board.