Thabang Mokopanele
20 April 2007
Johannesburg — RETAILERS will no longer be able to get way with passing locally manufactured merchandise off as imported garments, as Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa has signed a final regulation relating to the implementation of "country of origin" labelling on clothing and textiles imported into SA.
This was as a result of an investigation conducted by the trade and industry department into the influx of imported goods into the country.
The department said many goods were imported with misleading labels stating that the goods were from SA when in fact they were not.
The Merchandise Marks Act is aimed at preventing the application of false trade descriptions to goods and their sale. It also allows the department to prohibit the use of certain marks.
A final notice on the regulation of "country of origin" labelling was issued and published in the Government Gazette in December. The notice came into effect on April 14.
The notice prohibits the importation or sale in SA of merchandise or goods as specified in the schedule, irrespective of whether such merchandise or goods were made or produced in the country or elsewhere, unless the goods were clearly labelled with their country of origin.
Retailers will, from now on, be required to attach permanently and prominently a label with the country in which a product was produced or made; an indication where a South African textile manufacturer has used imported griege fabric to produce dyed, printed or finished fabric; and whether such fabric has been dyed, printed or finished in SA from imported fabric.
In addition, retailers will have to give an indication, where a locally manufactured product uses imported material, that the product was "made in SA from imported material".
The goods must also conform to South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) requirements for fibre content and care labelling.
Also to be stipulated is whether the goods are reconditioned, rebuilt or remade, and within which country they were manufactured. Such information should be applied to them in clearly legible wording.
The label should state clearly "Made in SA" when the product is wholly assembled in this country. Otherwise the product will not qualify for such a label.
Retail group Edcon's merchandise logistics executive, Martin Deall, said the group had been complying with this legislation for the past 12-18 months.
"The trade and industry department now wants us to run workshops to inform the public, which is a good thing because the government wants to enforce this piece of legislation," said Deall.
He said it was not surprising the department had removed a clause from the original Government Gazette that required importers to put a code on the country of origin, so that the government could see who the importer was. "There were a lot of complaints from small retailers and international brands retailers on the cost of putting such a code," he said.
The department said consumers should ensure, when they bought merchandise or goods listed in the schedule, textiles, articles of textile, clothing, shoes and leather goods, that a label indicating the country of origin was affixed.
The department, in collaboration with the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and the SABS, will ensure enforcement of the regulations.
SARS would randomly detain consignments to conduct inspections, and goods that do not comply with the origin-labelling requirement will be seized.
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