Many people might not know that the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) has a South African Tech- nical Barriers to Trade (TBT) early warning system for local exporters.

The service, which is free of charge but requires registration, serves to keep individuals and companies informed about technical regulatory and conformity assessment developments that may impact on South African exports. It also serves to provide subscribers with an opportunity to voice their concerns about the technical regulations and conformity assessment requirements of countries to which they export before they become a technical barrier to trade.

It is understood that this service also lists South Africa’s TBTs, implying that the service is not restricted to South African exporters only. In essence, it deals with all TBTs that affect South Africa.

The service acts as an early warning system that informs South African companies of the draft technical regulations under development by other countries that may create barriers to trade. A technical regulation is a set of requirements used by governments to determine the compulsory requirements for product or service characteristics or the related process that should be complied with. In addition, technical regulations also have specific administrative provisions and testing, certification and other conformity assessment requirements where compliance is mandatory with regard to public safety, health and environmental issues.

Why are public notifications required? The World Trade Organisation (WTO) TBT Agreement has a transparency obligation that requires countries to publish, and notify the WTO of, draft technical regulations at least 60 days in advance of adoption to allow time for comment and consideration of comments. Before their entry into force, a reasonable time of at least six months should be allowed for trading partners to become acquainted with them.

The South African Enquiry Point allows for the download of all these notifications, classifies them according to the International Code for Standards and makes them available as a searchable online database for exporters, manufacturers, regulators and the public’s information and comment.

In the instance of South African companies that comment, if such comments are considered to be of national interest, a South African national position or comment may be developed by the Department of Trade and Industry in conjunction with experts, who will then submit it to the relevant country, and this may result in bilateral talks with the country if the concerns are not taken into consideration. Should the bilateral interaction not resolve the problem, the concern may be registered as a specific trade concern in the WTO TBT Committee minutes. Should the matter not be resolved and an unnecessary barrier of trade results, the WTO dispute settlement mechanism may be engaged.

To ensure that you are alerted to any potential TBTs, all you need to do is to register and you will be informed of such developments by email. However, it is a cause for concern that, when one speaks to South African companies, there is a large segment that believes that there is an obligation on others to inform them of any trade-related develop- ments.

Laminates Customs Duty Reduction
Comment is due by June 28 in respect of the proposed reduction in the rate of customs duty on laminates of phenolic resins with a basis of paper, classifiable in tariff subheading 3921.90.05, from 10% ad valorem to free of customs duty, through the creation of a new eight-digit tariff subheading under 3921.90 for “laminates of phenolic resins with a basis of paper, thermosetting”.

The application was lodged by FX Veneers, which argued that the product is not manufactured in the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu) region and it is unlikely to be manufactured in Sacu member countries owing to high capital costs. In addition, this product is used as an input in the manufacturing of an end-product, besides being sold directly in the Sacu market.

Screws, Bolts and Nuts
Comment is due on June 28 with respect to the proposed increase in the rate of customs duty on certain screws, bolts and nuts classifiable under tariff subheadings 7318.15.39, 7318.15.43 and 7318.16.80 from the existing 10% ad valorem to the 30% ad valorem bound rate.

The application was lodged by CBC Fasteners, which gave the following reasons:

• Manufacturers need to be protected against price undercutting by Chinese exporters, which are exempted from the existing dumping duty on fasteners.
• CBC Fasteners is unable to recover manufacturing overheads at the current low levels of production. There is an urgent need for CBC Fasteners and other Sacu manufacturers to increase the volumes required to sustain critical mass and have sustainable businesses that continue to contribute to employment, while maintaining investment.
• Domestic producers are facing a significant price disadvantage against imported screws, bolts and nuts from Asian countries.
• The dumping duties imposed by the Inter- national Trade and Administration Commis- sion of South Africa against imports from China are a clear indication that there is a problem in the industry. Therefore, the requested duty increase of 20% ad valorem is justified.
• Increasing the customs duties to the bound level of 30% ad valorem will level the playing field for manufacturers.

Dust Masks Customs Duty Rebate
Comment is due by June 28 in respect of the proposed rebate of the customs duty on:

• polyurethane flat shapes with dimensions not exceeding 50 mm × 10 mm, self-adhesive on one side only, in rolls of a width not exceeding 20 cm, classifiable under tariff subheading 3919.10.07, for the manufacture of dust masks;
• silicone elastomeric straps with a length not exceeding 315mm and with width not exceeding 7mm, classifiable under tariff subheading 3926.90.90, for the manufacture of dust masks;
• natural rubber straps with a length not exceeding 315 mm and a width not exceeding 7 mm, classifiable under tariff subheading 4016.99.90, for the manufacture of dust masks; and
• inner and outer shells of nonwoven material, classifiable under tariff subheading 6307.90.10, for the manufacture of dust masks.

The application was lodged by 3M South Africa, which gave the following reasons for the application: reintroducing local manufacturing, increasing the labour force from 130 to 145, reducing the cost of production and increasing investment and promoting employment by 2015.