Category Archive

This month the new ‘Broom from Brazil’ will be sweeping clean at the WTO headquarters in Geneva. After over 8 years under the leadership of France’s Pascal Lamy, Brazil’s former WTO ambassador Roberto Azevêdo has taken over as the Director-General of the world trade body. He is already making his presence felt.   Azevêdo is likely to be a huge boost to developing …

The International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC) is adopting a lenient stance towards protecting local industries. Chief Commissioner Siyabulela Tsengiwe recently commented that under strenuous global economic conditions and increasing cost pressures to domestic manufacturing, ITAC had favorably ruled on several tariff increases or on tariff rebates on intermediate inputs used by local manufacturers. The aim of tariff …

A new international treaty governing the international supply of food aid will enter into force on 1 January 2013. This is a decidedly important instrument for Africa as approximately 65% of all food aid provided globally is received by countries in Southern Africa. The ‘Food Assistance Convention’ is a new incarnation of the traditional ‘Food Aid Convention’, both known by …

Exporters need to take heed that continued exports of any food products to the United States will only be possible after 31 December 2012 if the exporter complies with new food safety registration requirements. Failure to do so will lead to such exports being blocked.The basis of this requirement is Food and Drug Administration (FDA) legislation known as the ‘Food …

Sanitary and phytosanitary measures can render the market access gains derived from tariff concessions meaningless. Under the SPS Agreement WTO Members can impose measures to protect the life or health of humans, animals and plants within their territories. Through these measures an importing country can effectively block imports of an agricultural product notwithstanding the fact that all import duties have …

Hilton Lambert is particularly active in the international aspects of food law in its practice and encourages the development of this field of law in South Africa. The Institute of Food, Nutrition and Well-being (IFNuW) at the University of Pretoria has recognized that while the role of law in shaping the global food system is well developed in countries such …

South Africa and African countries generally have not taken to using the DSU to enforce their rights in the WTO. The constraints faced by African countries include human resource and financial constraints, which often lead to an inability to defend their interests, and a fear of backlash from the world’s larger trading powers, including advanced developing countries. These constraints are …

South Africa and African countries generally have not taken to using the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) to enforce their rights in the World Trade Organization (WTO). It is speculated that African countries have difficulties participating in the institutional structures of the WTO generally, and in the dispute settlement mechanism specifically. The constraints faced by African countries include human resource constraints, …

This month Argentina has filed its third trade complaint in two weeks, the World Trade Organization said on Monday, challenging U.S. laws that it says have blocked imports of fresh lemons from Argentina. The United States, Japan and Mexico filed trade complaints about Argentina’s import licensing policies two weeks ago, prompting Argentina to say it would hit back with complaints …

The annual Cape Times special feature on Exports, Imports and International Trade was published this week. The feature aims to provide business with a snapshot as to where current issues and debates are at with regards to international trade. Hilton Lambert was invited to provide an editorial commentary with regard to agribusiness and food trade. We placed ourselves in the …