Textile industry duty credit system gazetted

Validity extends to April 2007
ALAN PEAT
IT IS a year late in appearing, but it’s nice to see the final gazetting of the changeover to the interim textile and clothing industry development programme (TCIDP) – applicable since April 1, 2005, but only now finally cast in print by government, according to Brian Brink, executive director of the Textile Federation. On April 28, the International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) published amended guidelines for applications for permits in terms of rebate item 470.03 of Schedule 4 to the Customs and Excise Act. It included the substitution of the duty credit certificate scheme (DCCS) with the TCIDP - and this being applicable till March 31, 2007, it gives the industry a two-year breathing space, Brink added. It extends the system of duty credits – where export successes write off appropriate amounts of duty paid on imports. But it’s going to take a lot of government/industry thinking to decide what could finally replace it from April 1, 2007, according to Brink, as it’s the type of export support which doesn’t meet with the liberal trade policy of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).