At 14:00 this afternoon the South African Revenue Service (Sars) will release South Africa’s January 2012 import and export statistics. It is imperative for any person involved in international trade, be it the buyer (importer), the seller (exporter), the clearing agent, the forwarder (transporter), the insurer etc to take notice of these statistics. If anything they are a barometer of the economic activity in South Africa as they are indicative of the products and commodities that have been imported and exported in a given month.