Ihen South Africa decided to go the trade remedy route in 1914, it had only one type of tool in its arsenal, namely antidumping measures. Over the years, it added countervailing (antisubsidy) and safeguard measures. Since midnight on February 12, just like Cinderella’s coach, the countervailing measures on wire ropes and cables are no more, as is the provisional safeguard measure on frozen potato chips, which lapsed at midnight on February 20. At the time of writing, no official notification, through a Government Gazette notice, had been given of the countervailing measures or the safeguard measure.

It just proves that you cannot simply await Government Gazette notification – you also need to keep track of the imposition and duration of trade remedy measures. As a consequence, now only dumping measures remain in South Africa – 57 antidumping measures at that.

This reminds me of the immortal words of the Highlander – “There can be only one”. If you are old enough, you would recall this from the 1986 movie Highlander, starring Christopher Lambert, as Connor MacLeod from the clan MacLeod, simply known as the Highlander. Adding to the legacy of the movie is its unforgettable soundtrack by Queen. How can one forget the songs: Princes of the Universe, It’s a Kind of Magic, and Who Wants to Live Forever? In my view, there should only have been one Highlander movie, but four followed. This was not the end of it; there were two television series, an animated series, an animated movie, a flash-movie series, ten original novels, and 17 comic books.

Mbeki Visits WCO
The World Customs Organisation (WCO) has reported that members of the High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa, headed by former South African President Thabo Mbeki, visited the WCO headquarters on February 11 to obtain input for their report and recommendations to African countries on harnessing Africa’s hidden resources for development.

WCO secretary-general Kunio Mikuriya explained the problems posed by cash couriers and trade-based money laundering (including underinvoicing and over- invoicing), which had become major risk factors in Africa over the past decade as the continent experienced economic growth largely based on the mining of its abundant natural resources. Mukuriya also referred to the need for countries to prioritise their policy regarding illicit financial flows and to provide adequate resources and a legal framework for customs authorities to establish controls in respect of free trade zones, thus enabling the customs community to combat illicit trade and financial flows.

According to the WCO, the discussion also covered, broadly, the contribution of customs to economic and social development in Africa, including regional economic integration. Mbeki and the High Level Panel mem- bers acknowledged the crucial part that customs administrations play in improving the business climate by ensuring connectivity at borders, evidenced by the recent World Trade Organisation Agreement on Trade Facilitation, as well as the role of customs in ensuring transparency and security of the supply chain. The members also appreciated the WCO approach of ownership-based capacity building, which needs to be backed by high-level political commitment.

SA Export Competitiveness
On February 4, the World Bank released its ‘Export Competitiveness – Regional Trade Integration Could Spur South African Export Growth’ report. According to the report, boosting competition and promoting deeper regional trade integration are critical for restarting South Africa’s export engine to bolster growth, which would help create jobs and reduce poverty. It is evident that South Africa needs faster export growth to propel economic growth and job creation, according to the report. It identifies three opportunities to help ignite export growth, namely greater competition among firms in South Africa; resolving infrastructure bottlenecks and cutting logistics costs; and deeper regional integration in goods and services.

EU Geographical Identification Protection
The Department of Trade and Industry invited comments on the 28-member European Union (EU) request for the prohibition of the use of certain words in connection with any trade, business, profession, or occupation or in connection with a trademark, mark or trade description applied to goods, other than by the producers of the goods from the EU member countries. The deadline for comments is March 6.

Wire Ropes and Cables Dumping
Comment on the sunset review of the antidumping duties on wire ropes and cables of a diameter exceeding 32 mm, classifiable under tariff subheadings 7312.10.25 and 7312.10.40, originating in or imported from the UK and Germany, and on stranded wire of a diameter exceeding or equal to 12.7 mm, classifiable under tariff subheading 7312.10.20, origi- nating in or imported from the People’s Republic of China is due by March 10 (with an extension to March 24 possible).

Gypsum Board Dumping
The antidumping measures on gypsum plasterboard, classifiable under tariff subheading 6809.11 and originating in or imported from Indonesia and Thailand, are set to expire on March 14, unless a sunset review investigation is initiated.

Incentive Performance Verification
On February 7, the DTI informed of the appointment of Ernst & Young to perform verification procedures on the various incen- tive schemes managed by the Industrial Development Incentive Administration Division. This will entail Ernst & Young conducting on-site verification procedures at the incentive applicant’s premises to finalise a factual findings report for the department. The DTI requested that companies, should they be contacted by Ernst & Young, render their support by preparing for the visit, that is, making available for inspection all relevant financial, employment, asset and operational records, and physical assets pertaining to an incentive application and/or claim.