Regulation 22 of the Amended Tariff Investigations Regulations and the right to “procedural fairness”

• Main Author: Clive Vinti
• Format: Article
• Language: Afrikaans
• Published: Pretoria University Law Press 2020-08-01
• Series: De Jure
• Online Access: http://www.dejure.up.ac.za/index.php/volumes/2020/volume-53-2020/vinti

SUMMARY Regulation 22 of the Amended Tariff Investigations Regulations (ATR) permits the International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) to submit to the Minister of Trade and Industry, a “final finding” that consists of a recommendation to either approve or reject an application for a tariff amendment and a Ministerial Minute or a report explaining the reasons for ITAC’s evaluation. The Minister of Trade and Industry can then decide to either approve or reject ITAC’s recommendation. However, Regulation 22 of the ATR does not avail the affected parties any notice of the nature and purpose of this “proposed administrative action” nor a “reasonable opportunity to make representations” on it. Consequently, the object of this paper is to assess whether Regulation 22 complies with the right to “procedural fairness” in the manner contemplated by section 3 of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act 3 of 2000.