DUTY CALLS

Mineral Resources
Protection in Africa
On 17 to 19 May The World
Customs Organisation
(WCO) held a workshop on
the protection of national
mineral resources in Lusaka,
Zambia which was attended
by officers from customs
administrations and mining
control institutions from
the Democratic Republic of
the Congo, Nigeria, South
Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and
Zimbabwe.
The participants concluded
that optimal monitoring
and control mechanisms
of the natural resources
should be developed, which
included the identification
of legislative gaps, exploring
the strengthening of
current controls, improving
cooperation and networking
between customs
administrations and mining
institutions.
Global Exporter
Passport Programme
The Department of Trade and
Industry (the dti) is inviting
all exporters to apply for
its Exporter Development
Training Programme. The
purpose of the training is to
prepare small and medium
enterprises for the successful
expansion of their businesses
into international markets.
Interested companies are
required to complete and
submit the export-readiness
assessment form, which
will help determine the
appropriate level of training
for each company.
The training is clustered in
four phases, namely: Phase
1: Introduction to exporting,
Phase 2: Planning for exports,
Phase 3: Market entry, and
Phase 4: Global exporting.
Australia eliminates
farm export subsidies
On 22 May Australia
became the first World
Trade Organisation (WTO)
member among the 16
members with export
subsidies entitlements to
eliminate them from its WTO
schedule of commitments,
in line with the landmark
2015 commitment by WTO
members to eliminate farm
export subsidies.
At the 2015 Nairobi
Ministerial Conference, WTO
members agreed to abolish
agricultural export subsidies
and set disciplines on export
measures with equivalent
effect, levelling the playing
field for farmers around the
world. By eliminating export
subsidies, WTO members
have made a collective and
historic contribution to
delivering on a key target of
the United Nations (UN)
Sustainable Development
Goal to end all forms of
hunger and malnutrition.
Australia’s modified
schedule was effective from
22 May.
Safeguard Iron and
Alloy Alert
You will recall from an earlier
column that on 27 April the
WTO notified members of
South Africa’s intention to
impose safeguard duties on
certain flat-rolled products
of iron and alloy, classifiable
under tariff subheadings
7208.10, 7208.25, 7208.26,
7208.27, 7208.36, 7208.37,
7208.38, 7208.39, 7208.40,
7208.51, 7208.52, 7208.53,
7208.54, 7208.90, 7211.14,
7211.19, 7225.30, 7225.40,
7225.99, 7226.91 and
7226.99.
This follows South
Africa’s earlier notification
to the WTO Committee on
Safeguards on 23 February
2016, and the International
Trade Administration
Commission of South
Africa (Itac) preliminary
determination of 22 July
2016.
ArcelorMittal South Africa
(AMSA) are, according
to reports, expecting the
imposition of safeguard duties
to come into effect on 01 July
2017.