Published: 15 September 2006
The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) wishes to announce a delay in implementation date of the quota restrictions on 31 product categories of clothing and textiles from the People’s Republic of China, from 28 September 2006 to 1 January 2007.
This decision by the Minister of Trade and Industry follows from the department’s consideration of submissions received from all stakeholders i.e. manufacturers, retailers and labour during last week’s period of public comments on the measures that were gazetted on the 1st of September 2006, to the 8th of September 2006.
In addition, the department today held another stakeholder meeting, the second in a week, at the dti headquarters chaired by its Director General, Tshediso Matona, with the objective to further engage the various concerns raised. Among the key concerns raised were the need for longer lead times, the methodology for quota allocation and domestic supply issues.
The parties agreed a delay of implementation will go some way to enable all the players in the value chain to put in place arrangements to enable the industry to adjust to the restrictions and take advantage of the resulting opportunities. Furthermore, the parties agreed to an ongoing process to be convened by the dti, and involving the International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) and the South African Revenue Services (SARS), through which the quota restrictions will be monitored and any further concerns addressed.
The department wishes to underscore that its flexibility in implementing the quota restrictions is a deviation from the international norm, which involves quick and decisive action to avoid circumvention. This concession is offered in a spirit of promoting strategic dialogue and cooperation among all the stakeholders in the interest of boosting the sector and safeguarding employment. A later implementation date will allow the customary high level of business over the Christmas period to proceed without interruption.
The new implementation date of 1 January 2007 entails that ITAC, as the administering authority, will issue the applicable import permits at least 6 weeks in advance of this date. The process of monitoring the quotas will also seek to address issues related to circumvention, illegal imports and under invoicing.
Today’s meeting was attended by senior officials of the dti, ITAC and SARS as well as representatives of Clotrade, Texfed, SACTWU and the following retailers: Edcon, Pepcor, Mr Price, Woolworths, Truworths and Foschini.