Textile import duty review complete
The South African government has been reviewing the import duties paid on textile imports. The department of trade and industry (DTI) has submitted its findings to the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and the necessary changes will be implemented in the near future.
A DTI statement released on May 21 said: "Import duties on textile inputs into clothing manufacturing that are not commercially produced in South Africa have been reviewed by the International Trade Administration Commission. This comprised the revision of import duties on especially fabrics which are not being manufactured locally and/or not available locally in sufficient quantities. The review has been finalised and is now with SARS for implementation."
The statement explained that a rebate mechanism will be introduced that will allow duty drawbacks on fabrics that are not domestically manufactured or are not available in sufficient quantities.
"Going forward, the DTI will be working with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation to undertake a comprehensive benchmarking of the clothing and textile value chain in order to potentially identify further areas of achieving efficiencies,” said the statement.
The government is also looking to implement a preferential loan scheme for the clothing and textile sector and has said it will work hard to tackle illegal imports. It is also hoping to introduce training schemes so that workers within the industry can upgrade their skills.
