On March 2, Tajikistan became the 159th member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The Customs Cooperation Council, popularly known as the World Customs Organisation (WCO), another influential international trade organisation, has 179 members, with Tajikistan having been a member since July 1, 1997.

Tajikistan applied for WTO membership on May 29, 2001, resulting in the WTO general council establishing a WTO working party on the accession of Tajikistan on July 18, 2001.

Tajikistan completed its membership negotiations on October 26, 2012, when the WTO working party adopted the accession package. The WTO general council subsequently approved the accession on December 1, 2012, resulting in the announcement of Tajikistan’s impending membership on March 2, 2013.

Tajikistan’s accession package includes the WTO working party’s report, outlining its reformed trade regime, commitments as a WTO member and its market access schedules on goods and services, as well as the WTO general council decision and the protocol of accession.

According to the WTO, as a result of the negotiations, Tajikistan has agreed to undertake a series of important actions to further liberalise its trade regime and accelerate its integration into the world economy.

But what do you know about Tajikistan? What opportunities, if any, does it hold?
According to the Department of Inter- national Relations and Cooperation, South Africa and Tajikistan established full diplomatic and consular relations on May 5, 1992. The embassy in Astana is accredited to Tajikistan on a non- resident basis. The first South African ambassador to Tajikistan presented credentials to President Rakhmonov on October 29, 1999. At present, there is no South African representation in Tajikistan, but the South African ambassador to Astana, Kazakhstan, is accredited to Dushanbe on a nonresident basis. South Africans intending to visit Tajikistan need to apply for visas.

The monetary unit is the Tajik somoni. The official rate of exchange (on March 8) was 4.80 Tajik somoni to the US dollar.

Tajikistan is a country rich in natural resources, including gold. It also pro- duces aluminium and boasts a well developed electricity industry, thanks to the country’s plentiful hydroelectrical resources and the effectiveness of elec- tricity production. It has one of the biggest plants in the Central Asian region for the production of aluminium. It is understood that South African engineering goods are used in the country’s mines. The extent of trade between South Africa and Tajikistan is not known.

Glass Mirror Dumping Duty
The South African Revenue Service (Sars) informed on March 8 of the imposition of a provisional payment on unframed glass mirrors of a thickness of at least 2 mm but not exceeding 6 mm, classifi- able under tariff heading 7009.91, imported from or originating in the Republic of China.
The rate of the provisional payment is 40.22% and is imposed up to and including September 6, 2013.

Excise Accounts
On March 8, Sars extended an invitation for comment on its draft notice for the substitution of the DA 260 excise accounts for Other Fermented Beverages resulting from the taxation proposals tabled by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan during his Budget speech. The forms in question are (i) DA 260: Other Fermented Beverages (SVM); (ii) DA 260: Other Fermented Beverages (OS); and (iii) DA 260: Other Fermented Beverages (SOS).
Comments were due on March 15, 2012.