Under-declaration continues to dog textile industry

Despite SA Revenue Service’s best efforts, under-valuation of clothing and textile imports from the Far East remains a major issue of contention for the industry. Sars has been vocal about its get tough attitude on under-valuation and the abuse of rebate and other trade schemes, but it remains a problem, according to Textile Federation executive director Brian Brink. “There was a bit of a blitz before Christmas over 12 months ago and they relaunched the get tough campaign in April last year. “Clearly there are good intentions but the question is whether these are followed through properly.” The bottom line, says Brink, is that the declared landed prices are still extremely depressed. “We’ve had meetings with senior guys and they are honestly trying to do something, but if you look in the marketplace we don’t see any improvement. “It’s not an easy problem to solve and Sars has taken on board many of the concerns, but they need to follow through on that.” Quotas on Chinese imports, which were terminated two years ago, were seen as a means of addressing the industry’s concerns. But rather than stemming the flow of cheap imports, these continued to flow into the country from a range of obscure destinations – with China replaced by the likes of Myanmar, for example.