South Africa and the World Trade Organisation Anti-Dumping Agreement

Abstract

This paper explores and analyses the position of South Africa in relation to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) dispute Settlement system, especially as the most active African WTO member in the application of WTO rules to disputes in the municipal (domestic) context. Despite being a relatively ‘developed’ member when compared to other African countries, South Africa’s experiences and problems in using the WTO dispute settlement system are similar to those of many other developing countries. The most commonly cited problems facing developing countries including South Africa are the expensive litigation costs, lack of technical capacity, the fear of retaliation and limited, if not inappropriate remedies. However, despite the specific problems mentioned above, in comparison with other countries in the SADC region, South African courts have relatively been active in developing WTO law in the municipal context. This development has widely been confined to dumping/anti-dumping matters hence this paper critically analyses selected disputes in that context and concludes that despite the modest contribution, South African judges have to a large extent succeeded in municipalising WTO law.