Abstract

A World Trade Organisation (WTO) Panel recently issued its report in the Russia—Commercial Vehicles matter. It made some interesting decisions, deviating from earlier decisions on the same topic by other Panels and the Appellate Body; it further diluted the requirement of establishing a causal link between dumped imports and the injury experienced by the domestic industry; and it strengthened earlier panels’ findings on issues, such as the requirement to inform all interested parties of the essential facts under consideration in an anti-dumping investigation. This article considers seven key findings in the report, compares them with the requirements of the WTO Anti-Dumping Agreement and, where applicable, previous Appellate Body and Panel reports, and then considers what each finding means for anti-dumping in South Africa. It concludes that South Africa’s anti-dumping system fails to meet its WTO obligations in several respects and that there is a need to amend the Anti-Dumping Regulations.