Fo c u s o n Tyre IM PorTs - SA TREADS

12 • Focus on Tyre Imports
they were part of the discussions as a member of the SATMC, and were
therefore aware of the outcome of ITAC approving the application by NRCS,
whereas Goodyear claimed they knew nothing about it.
“We were neither consulted, informed nor pre-warned about the
cancellation of the rebate on imported herringbone design agricultural
tyres smaller than 36” rim diameter,” said Dustine Gascoyne, Goodyear
Marketing Director.
racing fraternity takes control
Whilst the debate around who was or should have been consulted prior
to this decision being taken rages on, the racing fraternity appears to have
achieved the impossible, and is seemingly the only market segment to still
enjoy rebates under this controversial Tarriff Heading.
In an attempt to rescue the situation, they formed their own Inspection
Committee to take over this function, and as a consequence, and with no
assistance required by NRCS, the rebate on racing tyres imported into
South Africa remains in place.
Precisely how they were able to achieve this, and reasons as to why the
agricultural sector was denied the same courtesy, is also open to debate.
Robin Houghton, ATS, explained: “Bear in mind that the volumes of racing
tyres imported into the country, along with the number of importers,
are very small, and as such, administering these tyres is a relatively easy
procedure. I believe this is why the racing sector has been granted leave to
self-govern in this matter, that, plus the fact that the process is controlled
by Motor Sport South Africa (MSA), which is an internationally recognised
body responsible for controlling the sporting events in the country where
tyres imported specifically for motorsport purposes would be used.”
But once importers of agricultural tyres became aware of a potential
problem around inspections and suggested establishing a similar selfregulated,
self-funded Technical Committee for the same purpose, their
suggestion was allegedly shot down.
Said de Villiers: “We offered to contribute towards the cost of future
inspections so that manpower resources can be increased, but our
suggestion was shot down for fear that it would lead to traders abusing
the system.”
Notwithstanding, industry players claim this is already the case. They allege
that the numbers of imported racing tyres currently on record are so vast,
that dubious operators have obviously found a way to evade paying duties
by classifying passenger tyres under racing tyres.
Said Haffejee: “Under invoicing by unscrupulous importers at values well
below raw material prices is the major hurdle in competing on a level
playing field.”
Added Kruger: “Dubious tyre importers will always be there and due to
the import duties in place, they will continue seeking new ways and means
to evade payment. I believe that if duties were to be abolished, this would
automatically level the playing fields, and that these dubious operators
would automatically disappear.”
“The availability of ‘unknown’ brands is increasing and this is driven by
two factors,” suggested Bridgestone’s Fava, “one being the pricing of
these products and secondly, the willingness of the consumer to buy a
cheap product at least once. The effect on our business is a diminishing
market with great pressure on the production cost and the feasibility of
local production. The current economic climate also contributes to the
consumer looking for cheaper product and this product may not be the
best value for money product, but simply cheap.”
Are importers being unfairly targeted?
So, what of this perception that tyre importers are being unfairly targeted?
Said de Villiers: “As importers we are experiencing increasing pressure
from government in the form of poorly executed campaigns to rid the
industry of ‘dubious importers’ who under-declare values and use wrong
tariff headings with rebates when importing tyres. In September last year
SARS began stopping containers without giving us detailed reasons for the