Chemical makers not in favour of PTA between India, SACU.

JOHANNESBURG: The chemical manufacturing sector in South Africa is not in favour of a preferential trade agreement (PTA) between India and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) as it would affect the small traders in the region, according to media report.

India is currently in negotiations to develop a PTA with SACU, which includes South Africa and the countries bordering it.

Chemical imports from India and China are a growing problem for the local industry, Chemical and Allied Industries Association Chairperson Laurraine Lotter was quoted as saying by the daily 'Business Day' at the Durban Chemical Cluster's annual meeting.

She said India and China with their much bigger manufacturing capacities could lead to traders dumping products at lower prices in smaller markets such as those in SACU.

She said it was also very difficult for local manufacturers to get anti-dumping duties imposed on them.

Lotter was addressing representatives of chemical makers in KwaZulu-Natal province, which makes most of South Africa's chemicals and employs half of South Africa's manufacturing workforce.

Other delegates at the meeting said that even if the India-SACU PTA is finalised, Indian exporters would encounter the same challenges that South African exporters to fellow SACU countries did.

These included compliance regulations which differed from country to country and the process of acquiring relevant permits, they added.a

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com