South African Anti-Dumping Law and Practice: A Juridical and Comparative Analysis of Procedural and Substantive Issues

Abstract

This thesis addresses issues of anti-dumping law and practice from a critical and juridical analysis position. In particular, the thesis seeks to determine whether the South African anti-dumping regime is compliant with the anti-dumping regime of the World Trade Organization (hereafter WTO), and to consider possible solutions for addressing instances where the South African law is not WTO compatible. The thesis departs from the hypothesis that the WTO merely requires functional equivalence of the implementation of national legislation on anti-dumping, and not the verbatim adoption of WTO jurisprudence and relevant provisions of the Agreement on the Implementation of Article VI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade of 1994 (hereafter URAA), into the legislation of State Parties. Some of the provisions of the URAA are not completely clear, and are cast in convoluted and complicated technical jargon, leaving loopholes that may be justifiably exploited by State Parties. The South African anti-dumping regime is found to have both positive aspects and problematic aspects when compared with WTO regulations. Some of the critical areas of the South African anti-dumping regime are WTO compatible whilst others are not.