On 16 October 2026, the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC) announced the imposition of safeguard duties of 21%, up to and including 03 May 2027, in Schedule No. 2, Part 3 in the Customs and Excise Act, 1964 (Safeguards) against the alleged increase in imports of office paper, classifiable under tariff subheadings 4802.56.20 and 4802.56.90.
The reasoning is contained in the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC) Report No.791.
The Safeguard Item reads: “Other paper and paperboard, not containing fibres obtained by a mechanical or chemi-mechanical process or of which not more than 10 per cent by mass of the total fibre content consists of such fibres, of a mass of 40 g/m² or more but not more than 150 g/m², in rectangular (including square) sheets with one side measuring 420 mm and the other side measuring 297 mm in the unfolded state, (excluding that imported from or originating in: Afghanistan, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Bahrain (Kingdom of), Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eswatini, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea (Republic of), Kuwait (the State of), Kyrgyz Republic, Lao (People's Democratic Republic of), Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova (Republic of), Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Saudi Arabia (Kingdom of), Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Türkiye, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe).”
The tariff amendment is accessible at: