JOHANNESBURG: A South African court has ordered the government to increase the tariff on wheat imports by 30 percent, the country’s largest grain producer body said on Thursday, a measure that should have been implemented weeks ago. South Africa changes the tariff on a regular basis using a variable formula based on world price movements. Industry group Grain SA says the tariff should have been adjusted in late May to R1 591 a ton, from R1 224, a 30-percent hike.
When the adjustment is calculated, it typically also takes a few weeks for it to be signed off and implemented, but Grain SA said the government was taking too long and took the case to the High Court in Pretoria. “The court instructed SARS (South African Revenue Service) to publish the new tariff in the Government Gazette no later than Wednesday 24 August 2016,” Grain SA said in a statement. Publishing the tariff in this manner brings it into effect.
