Zero-tariff scheme

Announced on May 1 by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) in a media statement and notified by the South African Revenue Service (SARS) on May 8, but not yet operational. That... 

Cluckin’ quotas

In the Government Gazette of April 30, the South African Revenue Service (Sars) gave notice of the retrospective increase, effective from April 1, of the annual quota for frozen bone-in cuts of the... 

Rice, rice baby

Alright, stop, collaborate and listen! Rice is back as new safeguard actions: rice, rice baby – with appropriate apologies and appreciation to American rapper Vanilla Ice. Fun fact: Rice is a... 

Another beautiful one?

Where were you on October 15, 2024? Not a life-defining moment for you? I suspect it would, in large part, depend on whether you have more than a fleeting affinity for tariffs. If you cannot recall... 

SA TIED UP III

Trying hard now It’s so hard now Trying hard now 

Organised lightning tariff review

How good is your memory? In the context of this column, this depends on whether you are a regular reader. How long does it take the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa... 

Been there . . .

Done that, got the T-shirt. The seven-word adage consists of three parts: ‘been there’, ‘done that’, and ‘got the T-shirt’. The ‘been there’ originated in nineteenth-century America and is used to... 

Extra! Newsprint in the news

Factually, it should be “Extra! Extra! Read all about it!!!” – which originated in the mid-nineteenth century in the US when newspaper hawkers shouted about urgent breaking news. The addition and... 

Section 301: the US’s trade hammer

What do you know about the number 301? Well, it is said to be an ‘angel number’. According to https://sacredscribesangelnumbers.blogspot.com/, it indicates that your angels are helping you gain and... 

The day in 1776

‘What happened in 1776 internationally?’ I ask my favourite search engine’s AI assistant. Intriguingly, it replied: “While 1776 is primarily known for the adoption of the Declaration of... 

The art of the Budget

If US President Donald J Trump could have a book, The Art of the Deal, written by journalist Tony Schwartz and credited to him, then why can I not have a column credited to me that South African... 

Prohibited and restricted goods

A topic that is very rarely written about or given the attention it deserves is ‘prohibited goods and restricted goods’. All countries have a ‘prohibited goods and restricted goods list’ of some... 

Sugar, rising duties and shutdowns

“You wait ages for one – and then three come along at the same time!” You might well be familiar with this idiom, usually associated with a bus and used to describe a long period of waiting for... 

The gods, the planet, and Adam

Customs and excises are called the ‘Cinderella taxes’ because they are often overlooked and undervalued. That said, they have what no other tax has – they have gods, with a planet named after one,... 

HS 2028 – it’s not too late

If anything, it is a bit early – 694 days early, in fact. In the week that I celebrate 9 135 days since my column first appeared, I sat down to write the ‘celebratory column’ and contemplated what... 

BAT ends local cigarette production

British American Tobacco South Africa, commonly known simply as BAT, announced on January 15 that it will cease local cigarette manufacturing and close its historic Heidelberg facility in Gauteng... 

Safeguard, my mate

If you are of a certain age, you might be familiar with the South African English expression used to signify approval or agreement: “Safe, my mate!” The British English equivalent is “Jolly good... 

When luxury isn’t luxury

Spoiler alert: you have missed the deadline for what follows, but, in my humble opinion, it was always a challenging deadline. A ten-working-day deadline was given to propose 2026 technical tax... 

Customs and excises essentials

God willing, on Monday, February 2, 2026, I will celebrate 25 years since my first column was published in this magazine. I vividly recall going to their offices to meet with Terence and Kenneth... 

Cracking the 70707070 Code

If you have not heard of the Customs Code – a generic Customs Code – before, it is also known as the ‘unallocated importers reference number’. As far as I could establish, it has been around since... 

Sars automates AfCFTA access

The South African Revenue Service (Sars) Registration, Licensing, and Accreditation (RLA) Division informed its stakeholders, also known as traders or clients, through a letter dated November 17,... 

WTO forum builds climate consensus

Do you know what ‘CTE’ stands for? As always, context is essential; otherwise, your favourite search engine’s top result might just as well be ‘Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy’, which is a... 

Breathing life into carbon credits

The National Treasury released a ‘Consultation Paper: Developing the South African Carbon Credit Market’ on October 29, inviting stakeholders to submit comments through a 30-question online... 

Another trade arrow in the quiver

If you have a passion for analysing and assessing the dynamics of global trade policy, then you are truly living in the golden age. On October 24, another analytical tool was added to the Tariff... 

Back to Agoa again?

Will there be, or won’t there be? That’s the question. Will there be a sequel to a sequel – a third instalment? Will there be a Part III of Agoa, which was introduced on May 18, 2000, when it was... 

Betting big on Ecoterms

Yes, you read correctly; it’s not a spelling error. Were you thinking that instead of the ‘E’ there should have been an ‘In’, and therefore it should read ‘Incoterms®’? As to why ‘Ecoterms’ is... 

Protecting South Africa’s chrome future

The word ‘chrome’ originates from the Greek word chrōma, meaning ‘colour’. The chemical element chromium was named by French chemist Louis Nicolas Vauquelin in 1797, inspired by its vibrant colours... 

Palm oil: handle with permit

‘Oleum’? Any guesses? It’s a Latin word, derived from the Ancient Greek word ‘élaion’, meaning ‘olive oil’, which evolved to simply ‘oil’. ‘Wītanan’ is the Germanic root word meaning “to see”. From... 

Baiting a better future

Where were you on Monday, September 15? What were you doing? Too personal? Well, then, but I genuinely hope that you did something nice, even memorable. If you were less inspired, instead keeping... 

High hopes for hemp

Hemp, a plant that, along with bamboo, is the world’s fastest-growing, falls within the botanical class of cannabis sativa cultivars, which are cultivated for industrial and consumable use.... 

WEIDE fund

Does it ring a bell? As it is the year of the sequel, you might want to cast your mind back to the column of October 11, 2024, titled  ‘Women exporters’ fund’. The fund’s full name is Women... 

Borderless vision in focus

The ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development was held in Yokohama, Japan, from August 20 to 22, with one of the thematic events, ‘Paving the Way to Africa’s Single Market:... 

Metal review II

It truly is the year of sequels. By now, you might be wondering how many sequels there must be before a reboot happens. According to my search engine, there is no set number – reboots are a... 

Calling America

“Can’t get a message through; Calling America, that’s what she said to do, … She left a number I could call; But no one’s there, no one at all; There must be something going wrong; That number just... 

Cock-a-doodle-doo

“Since the beginning of the seventh administration, South Africa [has] embarked on a process to stabilize and enhance mutually beneficial trade and investment relations with the US.” Have you... 

Asystole finances

Fun fact (a word of caution for experimental readers: do not try this at home) – if all the veins in your body were laid out in a straight line, you would die, as your circulation system would no... 

Ratite reckoning

Can it survive the ‘nervous nineties’ and reach a 100 not out? In case you are keeping score, it has survived for 33 419 days, but the real question is about the next 3 061. It seems that, similar... 

Happytalism

How happy are you? You might rightly question the means of measurement to provide a coherent response. In case you need reminding, ‘happiness’ is defined as a sense of wellbeing, joy or contentment... 

Another butterfly

What were you doing on September 20, 2019? What made the day memorable? If you do not remember reading an article in this column titled ‘Butterfly approach to trade’, then you should sense my... 

Technical tariff amendments

The article published in this column on September 13, 2024, bearing the same headline, dealt with the issue of what a ‘technical tariff amendment’ is. It was also mentioned that the South African...