Textile importer complains of Sars textile stops

The Customs officials at SA
Revenue Service (Sars) are
once again targeting imports of
clothing and textiles – an area
where illegal importing is rife.
The latest sortie (following
other similar tactics last
December and this April) is
being conducted by the Textile
and Clothing Campaign (TCC)
team – a reconstituted version of
the original MoU (memorandum
of understanding) team
which concentrated on SA
imports of Chinese textile
products immediately after the
implementation of quotas for
cheap Chinese imports that
threatened locally manufactured
alternatives.
The problem Sars currently
faces, an inside source told
FTW, is still the problem of
illegal or restricted clothing
and textile imports, but not
necessarily just from China.
Drawing attention to the
new TCC campaign, a clearing
and forwarding agent reader
of FTW (who asked to remain
nameless) complained that
the team was stopping all
imports of textiles into SA for
examination.
“This is pushing up the costs
of imported fabric – due to
storage, demurrage and
exam costs.”
It had happened three times
recently to import boxes being
cleared by his company, the
reader further complained –
“irritatingly often”, he added.
An unusually high frequency
aimed at one company, agreed
Brian Brink, executive director
of the Textile Federation – and
not a problem that any of his
members had complained about.
“Also, most unlike customs,”
he told FTW, “which has a
strong policy of facilitating the
movement of trade.
“Sars also tends to conduct
a risk profile for each of its
clients, and if Joe Soap & Co is
squeaky-clean, his goods tend
to get through unhindered.”
But, if there’s a black
mark against the name of that
forwarder, or one particular
client of his, it could be a
different story, he added.