INFRASTRUCTURE DAMAGE CONTROL MEASURES TO BE TIGHTENED?

INFRASTRUCTURE DAMAGE CONTROL MEASURES TO BE TIGHTENED?

• 25 July 2023
• Trade, Industry & Competition
• SA Legal Academy

Please note: 1) On 26 July 2023, the Government Gazette notice outlining these proposals was withdrawn and replaced. Links to both documents are provided below for ease of reference. 2) On 14 August 2023, the deadline for public comment was extended to 23 August 2023.

The Department of Trade, Industry & Competition has gazetted a notice calling for input by 15 August 2023 on draft trade policy directives affecting the manufacture and export of semi-finished copper products, as well as ferrous scrap rails.

According to the notice, the measures envisaged are expected to:

• enable the International Trade Administration Commission ‘to more easily verify’ the source of copper used to manufacture semi-finished products, and
• close an unforeseen loophole in the prevailing ferrous rail scrap control system.

To that end, the notice proposes that:

• the copper used in producing semi-finished products for export should come only from three specific sources, and that
• the export of used or second-hand rails should be prohibited until 15 December 2023, by which time the loophole is expected to have been closed by amendments to the export control regulations.

SA Legal Academy has already reported on measures taken since May 2023 in an ongoing effort to curb copper and ferrous metal theft more effectively.

• replacement notice
• withdrawn Government Gazette notice
• previous SA Legal Academy report

Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch

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