Move towards tighter import controls for SA proves ‘timely’

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JIMMY MOYAHA: The International Trade and Administration Commission [Itac] has released proposed amendments to the International Trade and Administration Act that governs the work they do.

These  amendments would allow the organisation to advance its efforts and improve how it operates. For more on this, I am joined on the line by Itac Commissioner Ayabonga Cawe.

Commissioner, always lovely having you on the show. Thanks so much for taking the time. Why the need to adjust the act?

AYABONGA CAWE: Jimmy, always a pleasure catching up with you, my friend, and thank you so much for inviting us tonight.

Well, I think the nub of why I would argue these changes are timely, as they’ve been gazetted by the minister, is that the act that we operate under – which established [Itac] and also established how we undertake investigations and how the minister regulates imports and exports – is an act that next year will be 25 years old.

I think you and I can both accept that the international and multilateral trading environment of the early 2000s and that of March 2026 are fundamentally different.

And I think the amendments to the act are about two things.

The one thing is to take stock of our experiences. And having implemented much of what is contained in the Act, Act 71 of 2002 and, arising from those experiences and the complications that have arisen there – be that in our investigative or even our enforcement work – to try and then make sense of that in a way that allows for some legislative amendments.

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And then I think the second thing is to really respond to conjunctural developments among those – being of course the interwoven nature between considerations of national security and trade relations, but also increasingly, I think, faced as we are by rapid deindustrialisation [and] many firms in our industrial base in distress.

How is it that we sharpen our tools and make them more agile and more adaptive and much more responsive to the need for timely protection?

I think some of the amendments here are really geared towards that, trying to strengthen our investigative and deliberative work.

And in so doing, enable the minister and cabinet where they deem an adverse impact associated with trade on our own national security or even the public interest – that they then are positioned by these amendments to have some of the tools to be able to respond.

JIMMY MOYAHA: Commissioner, can we look at the current role of Itac? Obviously we have a Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, and we know that Itac sits within that and has a very specific mandate.

We also know that from a global perspective we are dealing with trade conversations today in a manner that, which you rightly alluded to, we’ve never dealt with in the last 20 years – certainly since the current act has been in place – but in a manner that speaks to a globalised world, but also a world that is increasing in volatility.

How important is it then to have the policies and the empowered organisations to be able to be nimble to the global developments at the pace at which they move?

AYABONGA CAWE: It’s fundamental, Jimmy. I think it’s fundamental in the first instance to have recourse to the instruments that, as a member of the World Trade Organisation, all WTO members should have recourse and access to, whether that is import or export controls as we’ve seen globally.

If one looks at how the regulation and the use of export controls in semiconductor chips, and rare earths and so on by many countries – right through to amendments to your own tariff schedule as a country, which we’ve seen in the case of the US – have been done in rapid and quick succession through the use of executive orders, right through to defence measures against unfair trade, whether that unfair trade takes the form of dumping or even a flood of import into your country.

And so an institution like Itac, as the custodian of some of these instruments from time to time does need – where it is deemed appropriate – to be empowered to intervene in a manner that it is able to do in a timely way.

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I think there’s been a criticism, and you’d be familiar with this, that our processes take too long, that our instruments are subject to all manner of legal rigmarole that make it often not a timely response in terms of facing quarter-on-quarter distress that often leads to retrenchments and closures.

And so some of the amendments here – if one takes a look, for instance, at some of the proposals we’re making around Section C – are effectively about also extending the ability to petition Sars [South African Revenue Service] for provisional payments.

And beyond just trade remedy measures, even to tariff amendment investigations, recognising that many firms can’t wait for about 12 or eight to 12 months of investigative work to get protective relief.

And so, to the extent that that relief may be made provision for in the Customs and Excise Act, how do we harmonise our legislative amendments to deliver that protective relief where, on the balance of evidence, something has been proven – and do that in a timely fashion?

There are other elements as well. I think you’ve seen in the US the use of Section 232 tariffs, ostensibly on national security grounds, where not only a defence-related interest is at risk of being adversely affected, but even where many nations have seen declining capacity utilisation in sectors like steel as a strategic vulnerability that antagonistic nations may wish to weaponise.

I think increasingly South Africa, drawing from the experiences of many countries across the world, is recognising that there are certain gaps in our legislation …

Gaps that may, under the conditions we see – where you’ve got belligerents and the rumours of war, as we see – you do need some of these measures that will be able to deal with your defence capabilities and interests; the economic and social stability of the republic.

But also to deal with the displacement of domestic products by imports in instances where that has an adverse effect on investment and employment.

JIMMY MOYAHA: Commissioner, before I let you go, I know the current proposed amendments are out for public comment until the end of the month. I want to get your thoughts on that aspect of it from an industry perspective, from a stakeholder perspective. Where are the areas where you feel that comment is absolutely necessary if we are to make these adjustments fit for purpose for the South African economy?

AYABONGA CAWE: Well, we would encourage our people, not only those in industry but I think members of the public, to engage in comments on these amendments that we’re making.

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A big part of our own traditions is that we would like this to be in keeping with those democratic impulses and traditions:

Whether that is in Section 6, which deals with national security issues;
Whether that is in Section 16 where [Itac] may consolidate applications around similar products and conduct a single investigation;
Whether that is in giving us the power to levy administrative penalties in our enforcement work and our import and export control;
Right through even to some of the performance obligations that we expect from firms who are recipients of tariff relief and protection in Section 65.

And even, I think, the point I’m making here about Section 18 – which is about actions in response to foreign trade practices that go against any preferential agreements we may have, or even any long-standing trade relations we may have with other countries.

I think all of these are very, very important and we would encourage members of the South African public to really access [and comment on] the amendments.

They are available on our website, Itac.org.za – and let’s encourage the people in the few weeks that we have to comment on this.

It’s not the last time they will have occasion to comment because, as you would know, Jimmy, this has to go through the typical processes that legislation would have to go through.

And I think when the occasion arises, parliament may also call for further consultations.

But we think it’s important that our people at this stage begin to weigh in and to send us their written comments.

JIMMY MOYAHA: Your voice is needed in modernising the trade landscape that we find ourselves in, South Africa.

We’ll leave the conversation on that note. Thanks so much to the chief commissioner at the International Trade and Administration Commission, who joined us to look at amendments they are proposing towards the legislation that governs them.

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