Illegal imports 'threaten jobs'

Johannesburg - Further job losses are on the cards in the South African clothing and textile industry unless the government take serious action against illegal imports, reckons trade union Sactwu.

The Cape cotton textile manufacturer SBH Cotton Mills, with 350 workers, announced last Friday that it would be closing its doors, while Frame Textiles, with 2 800 employees, decided to throw in the towel in April.

Walter Berndörfler, managing director of SBH Cotton, said one of the "very, very important" issues that is forcing the company to shut down is the massive increase in cheap imports from the Far East, in particular, and illegal imports and invoices that do not reflect the true value of the goods. It is estimated that up to 60% of South African clothing imports are illegal.

Although import tariffs of 40% are applicable to a variety of clothing products, these are easily circumvented by submitting fraudulent figures to customs. A study done in May found that average prices on invoices used for imports include R0.47 for Chili men's denims, R1.08 for men's briefs from China, R5.75 for cotton frocks from the United Arab Emirates, R3.54 for blouses from Pakistan and R5.26 for men's suits from Vietnam.

"Pervasive customs fraud, such as the low prices declared to customs officials, leads not only to thousands of jobs being lost and hundreds of factories having to close down, but also forces countless numbers of people into poverty," declares Sactwu.

Employment in the clothing industry alone has more than halved from almost 120 000 at the end of 2002 (the first major increase in imports was seen in 2003) to about 56 600 at the end of March this year.

- Sake24.com