Temporary Rebates

A temporary rebate is a mechanism to provide import duty exemption temporarily in specific situations. Any company, whether traders or manufacturers can apply and benefit from a temporary rebate. 

Temporary rebates can be used in many situations, for examples when the only local producer of the product has an unforeseen plant breakdown for an extended period of time. Alternatively, if there is a shortage of a certain agricultural product following a drought. Whatever, the situation, a temporary rebate can be created following an application by industry.

Temporary rebates are subject to a permit being issued by ITAC prior to importing. This protects the local manufacturer or producer because once the temporary situation ceases to exist; ITAC may decide not to issue rebate permits.

Unlike an industrial rebate, a temporary rebate does not specify what the product imported under rebate will be used for. This is a key difference between temporary and industrial rebates. Once imported under a temporary rebate the product can be used to manufacture, produce anything or be resold.

— The process to create a temporary rebate

An application is made to The International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC). Specific Regulations prescribe the manner in which ITAC conducts the temporary rebate investigation process.

— Application and verification

A well prepared, motivated, and complete application is the most important part of the process. The key information included in the application is financial, labour, and market information among others.

ITAC conducts a verification exercise to check the accuracy of the information provided in the application against the company records.

— Comments and oral hearings

ITAC send out a non-confidential version of the application to interested parties soliciting preliminary comments.

When this phase is complete, a decision to initiate an investigation is taken and the investigation is published in the Government Gazette.

Interested parties can submit comments regarding the requested temporary rebate. In addition, all interested parties have an opportunity to apply for an oral hearing to present arguments verbally.

— Final decision

ITAC makes a recommendation to the Minister of Trade, Industry, and Competition (DTIC) after considering all facts and information at its disposal.

The process takes 6 – 12 months.