Abstract

The purpose of this article is to advocate for the right of ‘interested parties’ to be  heard during the National Treasury anti-dumping investigation conducted on behalf  of the Minister of Finance when the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition  makes a ‘request’ to impose or vary an anti-dumping duty in terms of ss 55 and 56  of the Customs and Excise Act 91 of 1964. This inquiry was prompted by recent  jurisprudence from the High Court of South Africa which asserted that the Minister  of Finance has a discretion when the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition  requests that an anti-dumping duty must be imposed or varied on a particular product.  In this regard, the National Treasury of South Africa investigates the desirability  of the imposition or variation of an anti-dumping duty on behalf of the Minister of  Finance. However, interested parties are never heard by the Minister of Finance or the  National Treasury. This poses the question whether interested parties must be heard  during the National Treasury’s investigation on whether anti-dumping duties must  be imposed or varied.