South Africa’s Proposed Amendments to the Second Hand Goods Act to Monitor Scrap Metal Trade
Phase 2 of the Scrap metal Policy to Limit Damage to Infrastructure and the Economy (the “Policy”) is in progress. Amendments to the Second Hand Goods Act (SHGA) were published for comment on 17 November 2023.…
Ignore the media hysteria! – everyone can still export agricultural products to the EU and the UK
Rapport’s headline on Sunday was “Wit boerderye mag nie uitvoer, sê staat” (White farmers may not export, says the state), which is only 1% true. At a push. But what a headline! Now let’s get to…
Karoo Farmers no longer sheep-ish as Karoo Lamb achieves GI status
Karoo sheep farmers can finally rejoice as their long-awaited battle for geographical indication (GI) status for Karoo lamb has been won, as confirmed by the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development on 27 October…
Eggs-hausted Resources: Avian Influenza’s Impact on South African Poultry
South Africa’s chicken industry is facing a dire situation due to the country’s worst outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), commonly known as bird flu. The outbreak has rapidly spread through chicken flocks, resulting in…
Correction notice for the importation of other electronic conductors
On 13 October 2023, ITAC published a correction notice for notice no. 1922, which was published on 21 July 2023 in Government Gazette no. 49011. The application was brought by Apex Cordset Technologies (Pty) Ltd for…
Diplomats back on the wagon after Concourt rules that SARS changes to the alcohol and tobacco rebate for diplomats are constitutional
The Constitutional Court in Nu Africa Duty Free Shops (Pty) Ltd v Minister of Finance and Others (CCT 29/22; CCT 57/22 ; CCT 58/22) [2023] ZACC 31 (3 October 2023) has taken a dim view on…
South Africa needs to urgently graduate to become a sweat shop economy
33% of working age South Africans are unemployed, with almost double that unemployed in the youngest quintile. Government puts out endless job creation programmes, which never put a dent in the unemployment rate. We subsidise industries,…
Finally, movement as import duty decisions are being taken. White chocolate | Stainless steel | Woven fabrics
It’s been a while, but finally import duty decisions are being taken. It’s not at all clear why they have taken so long, but we’re happy they are now moving. Hopefully more will soon follow. Click…
ITAC instructed to consider providing temporary import duty relief on chicken while local shortages persist
Due to the shortages of chicken in the South African market, due to a particularly virulent outbreak of Avian Influenza (AI), the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition has requested ITAC to consider the creation of…
NB: SARS will deactivate customs registrations if companies don’t comply with the onboarding process
Some companies and individuals registered with Customs have been receiving text messages, e-mails and letters of intent noting SARS intend to deregister them for not following the onboarding process launched by SARS to migrate all Customs…
Rebate created for duties on steel cord | Anti-dumping duties removed on Frit | Duties increased on rock drills
Duty relief for steel cord used to manufacture conveyor belts On 20 May 2022, ITAC initiated a duty rebate investigation for the importation of steel cords used in the manufacture of steel cord-reinforced conveyor belting, tariff…
Trade Brief 4: Cargill sets sail. Literally. With sails on a ship
The shipping industry is under pressure to reduce carbon emissions (they contribute 3% of global carbon emissions, about 20% the contribution of cow farts who let rip 14.5% of global emissions. Seriously). Taking inspiration from history,…
Update on the request for a temporary rebate of duty for solar panels
After the previous blog, we were as confused as everyone else why a temporary rebate investigation was initiated if there is currently no duty on the product, HS 8541.43 – Photovoltaic cells assembled in modules or…
Request for a temporary rebate of duty for solar panels which don’t attract duty. Odd.
On Friday, 25 August 2023 ITAC initiated a new tariff investigation for the creation of a temporary rebate on “Photovoltaic cells assembled in modules or made up into panels, classifiable in tariff subheading 8541.43, in such…
Brics grows by 6 new members. What does it mean?
It is with some relief that only one new member of Brics has a name starting with a consonant or the new acronym would have been a nightmare. That disaster averted, XA will send a bottle…
Anti-dumping case on active yeast imports from Zimbabwe
On 18 August 2020, ITAC initiated an investigation on the alleged dumping of active yeast, tariff heading 2102.10, from the Republic of Zimbabwe. The application was brought by Rymco trading as Anchor yeast, which is the…
About ITAC’s response to our Import Duty Investigation report No. 3
As many of you are aware, we launched our third Import Duty Investigations report on Wednesday (you can and should download the report here). ITAC responded with a media release of their own. I am not…
Reinstatement of Anti-Dumping Duties on Frozen Bone-In Chicken Pieces from EU and Brazil
After a 12-month suspension, the International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) has decided to implement anti-dumping duties on frozen bone in chicken pieces from the EU and Brazil to protect the local poultry sector and mitigate the…
Application to amend rebate items used for the importation of other electronic conductors
On 21 July 2023, ITAC initiated an investigation to amend and renumber rebate items 316.17/00.00/01.00, 316.17/00.00/02.00, and 316.17/00.00/00 used for the importation of other electric conductors, classifiable under tariff subheading 8544.42. The application was brought by…
Another proposed restriction on processed scrap metal
The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) has proposed to further restrict the export of copper semi-finished products, temporarily prohibit the export of used or second-hand rails, and subject rails to export control. The gazette…
Review of customs duties on mixed frozen vegetables
On 30 June 2023, Minister Patel instructed ITAC to initiate a review of the customs duties on mixed frozen vegetables in nine months time (April 2024). In a burst of enthusiasm, ITAC instead initiated that review…
Trade Brief 3: Move the capital from the old world to young Africa
We tend to not think about population growth too much, because the changes are so slow. Until they’re not. Until very recently, human population has been growing and that assumption is baked into our economic theories,…
Trade Technical: Court offers clarity on tariff determinations – common sense, pragmatism and business-like results are part of the approach
Nerd Alert! You can skip this blog if you are not a serious trade nerd! The recent High Court decision in Diageo v CSARS has clarified the approach to interpreting the law on tariff determinations in…
The price of chicken and veg matter, but not the price of chips
After a marathon 53 months (!!), ITAC eventually rejected Nature’s Garden’s application to increase the duties on frozen vegetables from 10% to 37%. Here is what happened. On 14 June 2018, Nature’s Garden filed an application…
DTIC proposes extending the Price Preference System (PPS) – again! – on scrap metal
On June 26, 2023, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) proposed extending PPS for between 2 to 5 years, under the same terms it currently operates. PPS is the trade policy which forces scrap metal…
Trade Brief 2: Arizona is exporting water to Saudi | The world is growing apart and with it inflation follows
Saudi farms are exporting Arizona water back to Saudi Arabia Arizona is exporting alfalfa, a massive water consumer, grown on Saudi-owned American farms back to Saudi Arabia. This is happening because of the loose rules around…
Scrap metal export ban extended by another 6 months
On 15 June 2023, Minister Ebrahim Patel extended the ban on the export of copper and steel (except stainless steel and manufacturing scrap) for another six months. If you already have an export permit in hand,…
The risk of losing AGOA is smaller than anticipated
The Bloomberg article by Stanlib’s Ndihuvo Netshitenze materially overstates the risk of South Africa’s stance on Russia. I have been quite outspoken that our pro-Russia stance, aka non-aligned, is harmful to our economy and if anything my…
Diesel Refund Extension to Foodstuff Manufacturers: A Closer Look
In the 2023 budget speech, the Minister of Finance introduced tax relief measures to address the current load-shedding problem in the country. One notable measure is the extension of the diesel refund system to manufacturers of…
Anti-dumping duties imposed on frozen chips from Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany
On 18 May 2023, ITAC imposed anti-dumping duties on frozen potato chips originating or imported from Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, as follows: We have received the board report and will soon receive the calculations. We…