According to media reports, the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC) received an application to raise the import duty on a range of garments.

With the scheduled meeting of G-20 countries on April 2 in London getting nearer, much of the talk among leading policymakers has turned to the need to resist protectionism and use this forum for taking decisive action to conclude the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations.

In a long-festering dispute between the US and the EU over poultry exports, the US seems to have finally given up any chance of winning the argument by way of reason and has formally initiated litigation at the WTO by requesting consultations with the EC on this matter, on January 16, 2009, before a meeting of the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body.

Interesting developments are afoot in the United States Senate when it comes to international trade and the protection and enforcement ofintellectual property rights.

During May 1999 South Africa, on the recommendation of the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC), imposed anti-dumping duties on white A4 paper originating from Indonesia.

The European Free Trade Association (EFTA), comprising of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland signed an agreement to form a Free Trade Area with the Southern African Customs Union (SACU). Whilst this agreement was already signed on 26 June 2006, it only came into effect on 1 May 2008.

According to media reports, the government has extended the interim Textile and Clothing Industry Development Programme (TCIDP) until 31 March 2009. This follows a recent announcement by the Department of Trade and Industry of its review of tariffs on textiles which should help lower the cost of South Africa's clothing manufacturers.

In terms of the TCIDP exporters of certain textiles and clothing receive a rebate on import duty paid if the products are re-exported. Various requirements must be met before such a rebate will be allowed.

The TCIDP is the successor of the Duty Credit Certificate Scheme (DCCS) which came to an end on 1 April 2005. The TCIDP extended the initial incentive scheme (with amendments) until 1 April 2007. The TCIDP has been continued on an ad hoc basis since then. Since the scheme legally lapsed, clothing and textile exporters could not plan for the future due to legal uncertainty regarding exports under the scheme. This has now been changed by the South African government's extension of the scheme.

The TCIDP worked on a basis whereby exporters earned credits which could be traded. It is argued that the fact that it could be traded to retailers, for instance, defeated the object of the incentive scheme as other beneficiaries benefited than those intended. However the practice of selling these duty credit certificates to retailers was limited under the TCIDP.

For further information on the products and conditions applicable, kindly contact Rian Geldenhuys.

In terms of section 13A(3) of the Competition Act 89 of 1998 (the ?Act?), parties to an intermediate or large merger may not implement that merger until it has been approved, with or without conditions, by the either the Competition Commission, Tribunal or Appeal Court.