A year of hope

“No more champagne; And the fireworks are through; Here we are, …; Feeling lost and feeling blue; It's the end of the party; And the morning seems so grey; So, unlike yesterday; Now's the time for... 

Scrap it – Interrobang

This year has been one of repeat performances. So, unlike the infamous sitcom catchphrase from Allo 'Allo!, it was never a case of “Listen very carefully, I shall say this only once”. In this, the... 

Customs commercial fraud

On November 24, the World Customs Organisation (WCO) published its first ‘Global Trendspotter Report on Customs-Related Commercial Fraud’, which was compiled by customs experts and WCO Regional... 

eATA Carnet project

Did you know that about 190 000 ATA Carnets covering merchandise valued at R449.87-billion are issued by 80 countries or customs territories each year? More importantly, do you know what an ATA... 

No spring chicken

The International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (Itac) has published a notice in the Government Gazette about the initiation of a sunset review of the antidumping duties on... 

Will State shipping line float?

Whatever floats your boat! That’s what I thought when I saw the predraft South African Shipping Company (Sasco) Bill, 2022, which was published on November 1 “to provide for the establishment of... 

Please, Sir

“I want some more,” requested Oliver Twist in Charles Dickens’ 1837 novel, Parish Boy's Progress. Just how nicely the South African Revenue Service (Sars) is going to ask the South African taxpayer... 

Tariff determination process

The South African Revenue Service (Sars) on October 27 presented what it called “a comprehensive tariff determination webinar” to educate traders and travellers and increase their compliance with... 

Preparing for HS2027

Well, this is something of a first – two consecutive columns on the Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System (HS). This is quite significant, considering that the next iteration of the HS... 

HS study participation

The World Customs Organisation (WCO) announced on October 7 that, just over a month ago, on September 5, it had formally established a small project team for a two-year period to conduct an... 

Middle-out economics

While last week’s column was all about levelling up and trickling down, this week’s is all about a glaring omission – the most glaring omission, I would argue. Can I give you a clue? Well, as the... 

Levelling up & trickling down

There was a time when we were overrun by a tsunami of acronyms. Now our world is abuzz and aflood with terms whose  meanings are rarely, if ever, explained. These terms tend to morph into buzzwords... 

Cheerio, here I go

What is the difference between a migrant and an emigrant? Well, a not-so-helpful start would be to state that there is no internationally accepted legal definition of ‘migrant’. That said, a... 

World Tariff Profiles 2022

If you thought you needed to fork out money for world-class international tariff profiles, you might be in for a pleasant surprise. The World Trade Organisation (WTO), the International Trade... 

Metal products trade control

It is important for me to pay homage to the origin of this column, which came into being when a fairly youthful me approached the Creamers, proposing the initiation of a weekly column about... 

Unexplained wealth ‘targeted’

Isn’t it curious how interrelated the financial news in South Africa has become of late, without attention being drawn to this fact? Take the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), for instance. On... 

Root cause of food inflation

Days after I had submitted the piece titled ‘Chickenomics’, published on August 19, I had a sinking feeling that it was not quite complete. It was not incomplete as far as chicken meat was... 

Citrus fruit dispute

There is a first time for everything, as the adage goes. On July 27, the South African government initiated its first-ever World Trade Organisation (WTO) request for dispute consultations by... 

Chickenomics

Did you know that chickens account for 23-billion of the 30-billion land animals living on farms? If you are doing the math, chickens outnumber humans three to one. On Monday, August 1, the... 

You lost me at . . .

Blah, blah, blah. On July 27, President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered a 3 177-word address on South Africa's energy crisis, in which he proposed “implementing additional measures to achieve long-term... 

CPI + 7%

“I'll have what she’s having” is from the memorable restaurant scene in the 1989 comedy, When Harry Met Sally. Although reminiscent of, it is no laughing matter when reading the column’s headline... 

Economic freedom

If freedom is “the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants”, what does economic freedom mean? Evidently ‘freedom’ and ‘economic freedom’ tend to be expressed in four pillars. The late... 

Shades of greylisting

In case the headline confused you or made you wonder whether ‘shades of grey’ means “the situation does not make it clear what is right and what is wrong”, let me be clear: ‘greylisting’ is bad. In... 

Gold to the future

Doctor Emmett Brown: “No! It cannot be; I just sent you back to the Future!” Marty McFly: “No, I know; you did send me back to the Future. But I am back – I am back from the Future”. Doctor Emmett... 

Calling on small businesses

In 2021, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the International Trade Centre (ITC) – established by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the United Nations (UN) through the UN Conference... 

I owe, I owe – the sequel

Over the 21 years of writing this column, there has been the odd temptation to simply resubmit an earlier instalment because, in South Africa, the more things change, the more they remain the same.... 

Customs matters

It’s not often that a book on customs is published. The last such book of significance that I can recall was published in 2003 by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) it’s Customs: Challenges and... 

Operation Vulindlela update

What do you know about Operation Vulindela? The piece published in this column on April 2, 2021, headlined ‘Operation Vulindlela’, might provide some insight, or maybe not. The operation’s most... 

Fuel price ‘reduction’ extension

On May 31, the National Treasury and the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy issued a media release announcing the “extension of the temporary reduction in the general fuel levy”. This... 

Trade Facilitation Innovation

      The Trade Facilitation Committee was created on February 22, 2017, when the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) entered into force. The TFA contains provisions for expediting the movement,... 

CPI + 7%

“I’ll have what she’s having” is from the memorable restaurant scene in the 1989 comedy, When Harry Met Sally. I was reminded of this when reading a May 20 release from the South African Revenue... 

Do not overthink it

The most challenging economics class to teach is the first-year university class, for the students already ‘know’ all there is to know. This gels with what my grandfather used to tell me: when you... 

SA TIED UP

When does one throw in the towel? Some of my fondest childhood memories are of evenings spent with my father at West Ridge Park, watching boxing, which was not really  my favourite pastime, but my... 

Only one dam built since 1994

If you missed last week’s piece, it concluded by stating that South Africa had built only one power station and had not done any better in terms of dams. The piece was about Eskom. The only dam... 

Load-shedding 101

Room 101, in George Orwell’s novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, is a torture chamber in the Ministry of Love where prisoners are subjected to their own worst nightmare, fear or phobia. Here is praying... 

Fuel price ‘reduction’

For the tax year ended March 31, the South African Revenue Service collected R1.56-trillion in net taxes, constituting R1.88-trillion less refunds of R321.1-billion, which equates to 17.04% of the... 

A pledge is what, exactly?

If the headline sounds familiar, it is because it is. If you are a regular reader of this column, or happen to have read the November 27, 2020, instalment of this column, it would be déjà vu all... 

Excise essential guide

The main challenge in international trade is the interchangeable and indiscriminate use of terminology. Take the instance of excise duty – or is it excise tax or excise levy? If you are of the... 

Trade Facilitation Agreement

On February 22, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) celebrated the fifth anniversary of its Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), which entered into force when the WTO obtained acceptance of the TFA... 

Illusory growth

On March 9, the Ministry of Finance issued a media release on the Finance Minister’s response to the debate on the 2022 fiscal framework and revenue proposals. There are a few issues that the...