The Determination of the “Origin” of Products in South African and SADC Law
This article analyses the landmark case of Commissioner: SARS v. Levi Strauss SA (Pty) Ltd (hereinafter Levi), in which the Supreme Court of Appeal in South Africa decided on the issue of the “origin” of goods in international trade. In South Africa, this issue is regulated by the Customs and Excise...
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Publshing House V.Ема
2025-08-01
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| Series: | BRICS Law Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://www.bricslawjournal.com/jour/article/view/1294 |
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| author | C. Vinti |
| author_facet | C. Vinti |
| author_sort | C. Vinti |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article analyses the landmark case of Commissioner: SARS v. Levi Strauss SA (Pty) Ltd (hereinafter Levi), in which the Supreme Court of Appeal in South Africa decided on the issue of the “origin” of goods in international trade. In South Africa, this issue is regulated by the Customs and Excise Act 91 of 1964 (CEA). The origin of a product is easy to establish when a product is wholly produced in one country. But when the production of a good occurs across different countries, then the rule usually is that the origin of goods is determined based on the “last substantial transformation” of the product. However, in the Levi ruling, the court made this decision without any consideration of South Africa’s international obligations under the Agreement on Rules of Origin and misinterpreted the origin test set out in the Protocol on Trade in the South African Development Community. Moreover, the court also failed to adequately contextualise its reasoning in relation to the default position on the determination of origin in South African law under the CEA. This paper critiques the court’s approach in this regard and assesses its broader implications for origin determinations. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8bb5399e1e4d41628f1e8eb07ee9448a |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2409-9058 2412-2343 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Publshing House V.Ема |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BRICS Law Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-8bb5399e1e4d41628f1e8eb07ee9448a2025-08-20T03:45:15ZengPublshing House V.ЕмаBRICS Law Journal2409-90582412-23432025-08-011228811110.21684/2412-2343-2025-12-2-88-111353The Determination of the “Origin” of Products in South African and SADC LawC. Vinti0Oliver Schreiner School of Law, University of the WitwatersrandThis article analyses the landmark case of Commissioner: SARS v. Levi Strauss SA (Pty) Ltd (hereinafter Levi), in which the Supreme Court of Appeal in South Africa decided on the issue of the “origin” of goods in international trade. In South Africa, this issue is regulated by the Customs and Excise Act 91 of 1964 (CEA). The origin of a product is easy to establish when a product is wholly produced in one country. But when the production of a good occurs across different countries, then the rule usually is that the origin of goods is determined based on the “last substantial transformation” of the product. However, in the Levi ruling, the court made this decision without any consideration of South Africa’s international obligations under the Agreement on Rules of Origin and misinterpreted the origin test set out in the Protocol on Trade in the South African Development Community. Moreover, the court also failed to adequately contextualise its reasoning in relation to the default position on the determination of origin in South African law under the CEA. This paper critiques the court’s approach in this regard and assesses its broader implications for origin determinations.https://www.bricslawjournal.com/jour/article/view/1294originwholly obtainedlast substantial transformationagreement on rules of originsouth africaprotocol on trade in the south african development communitygatt 1994 |
| spellingShingle | C. Vinti The Determination of the “Origin” of Products in South African and SADC Law BRICS Law Journal origin wholly obtained last substantial transformation agreement on rules of origin south africa protocol on trade in the south african development community gatt 1994 |
| title | The Determination of the “Origin” of Products in South African and SADC Law |
| title_full | The Determination of the “Origin” of Products in South African and SADC Law |
| title_fullStr | The Determination of the “Origin” of Products in South African and SADC Law |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Determination of the “Origin” of Products in South African and SADC Law |
| title_short | The Determination of the “Origin” of Products in South African and SADC Law |
| title_sort | determination of the origin of products in south african and sadc law |
| topic | origin wholly obtained last substantial transformation agreement on rules of origin south africa protocol on trade in the south african development community gatt 1994 |
| url | https://www.bricslawjournal.com/jour/article/view/1294 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT cvinti thedeterminationoftheoriginofproductsinsouthafricanandsadclaw AT cvinti determinationoftheoriginofproductsinsouthafricanandsadclaw |