Joel:
Thank you for your question regarding the import of secondhand goods
to Africa, and Asia. There are many considerations with the export of
used goods (or new) to the many countries that make up these two
populous continents. I can, at best , only point you in the right
direction, and answer the question in a somewhat general manner, as
each country has it’s own rules and regulations. I will try to offer
solid links to trade and governmental websites, where I believe, you
will find the information you are looking for.
Africa:
The United States has trade sanctions with many countries; Angola,
Sudan, Libya et al. You should check here for the latest in US
sanctions, all are in PDF format.
http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/sanctions/index.html
If the African country are not on this list then you have to deal with
that individual country’s import restrictions, most are quite lax.
A good place to look if you are considering exporting secondhand goods
to Africa is:
http://africa.recycle.net/a/5000.html
This is an exchange site (a portal) where buyers and sellers can
conduct business in all types of secondhand goods, from tires, to used
footwear.
The import laws are reasonably brief and easy to adhere to. A permit
is not required in most instances. Import taxes were abolished in
1992, and as a result huge containers full of used clothing have been
flooding Zambia, and in effect, killed the local production of
clothing.
In Zambia , where there used to be a busy textile trade this website:
http://www.networkideas.org/news/apr2002/news25_zambia_courts_estern_markets.htm
Reports :
“This southern African country(Zambia) once had a thriving clothing
industry. But when government officials began opening Zambia's economy
to foreign trade 10 years ago in exchange for loans from international
donors, tons of cheap, secondhand clothing began to pour into the
country, virtually duty free.”
There is a huge market for used “western style” clothing in the
sub-Saharan countries; again I quote from the above website:
“The used clothing shipped to sub-Saharan Africa by the United States
accounts for nearly $60 million in sales annually. The bales of old
clothing that appear on Africa's doorstep are now so familiar entirely
new idioms have been developed. Partly in derision, and partly because
many Africans once assumed the clothing belonged to the recently
deceased, Ghanaians refer to the imports as "dead white man's
clothing." Tanzanians dubbed the garments "dyed in America," and in
Zambia the used-clothing stands are called "bend-down boutiques."
"You can walk for miles at a time here and not see anyone wearing
anything remotely resembling African clothing," said Howard Gatchell,
chairman of the Chamber of Commerce in Zambia's second city, Ndola.”
South Africa: According to:
http://www.tradeport.org/ts/countries/safrica/regs.html
“U.S. nationals may engage in the full range of trade activities
in South Africa.”
I could not find too much data on secondhand goods, but there is a
reference to scrapmetal:
“4. South African Export Controls
A number of products are subject to export control and licenses,
including strategic goods (exhaustible resources), agricultural
products administered by control boards, metal waste and scrap.
Diamonds for export must be registered with the Diamond Board. No
price-controlled petroleum product produced at local synfuel
plants may be exported.
Metal scrap produced by scrap dealers must first be offered to
downstream manufacturers of metal products at a discount to the
price at which it can be exported. The discount is 15% for
non-ferrous scrap and 7.5% for ferrous scrap. If manufacturers
turn down the offer, an export permit may be issued to the
dealer.”
In the Ivory coast the International Trade and Development center
reports:
“Since 1995, the government has implemented a series of trade reforms
to open up the economy.
Import barriers: Non-tariff barriers on goods and services have begun
to come down, with the elimination of import restrictions on wheat,
rice, sugar, flour, secondhand clothes, tyres and spare parts.”
For more on the Ivory Coast go to:
http://www.itd.org/issues/ivoire3.htm
Here is a good link for secondhand clothing buyers in Kenya.
http://www.kenyadirectory.com/directory/subcategories.asp?categoryId=027&subCategoryId=000492
Asia:
The U.S. has specific sanctions in North Korea which you can view
here:
http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/sanctions/t11korea.pdf
Otherwise, a good place to start looking for Africa and Asia is:
http://www.exportbureau.com/
The import laws are extremely diverse in Asia, and no one report can
detail all of the nuances in all Asian countries. For a discussion of
trade in Central Asia, see:
http://www.uga.edu/cits/ttxc/nat_eval_centralasia.htm
More country specific customs and trade information for each Asian
country can be found here, at the Hong Kong Trade and Development
Council, with links to most Asian trade and tariff information:
http://my.tdctrade.com/webdir/directory_detail.asp?catid=16&subcatid=152
A watershed of useful information and links can be found at:
http://www.business-in-asia.com/us_trade.htm
I hope this information is helpful in your export endeavors, it is
alas only a starting point for you, but due to the complexity of the
question, and the highly specific nature of the answers, it should get
you on the right track. As always I welcome any clarification request,
please do not hesitate to ask for one.
Good luck.
Colin |
Clarification of Answer by
colin-ga
on
09 Jun 2002 06:40 PDT
Joel:
It is my pleasure to provide some more information and links for
exporting goods to Africa and Asia.
Tradeport.org has very specific information on import regulations in
Africa, here is one about Swaziland:
http://www.tradeport.org/ts/countries/swaziland/regs.html
This link below lists all of Africa’s countries, drilling down through
each specific country you will find exactly what you are looking for.
To view the country list, where the Swaziland report came from, go
here:
http://www.tradeport.org/ts/countries/africa.html
I found this site to have a wealth of information and links regarding
trade with Africa:
http://web.ita.doc.gov/ticwebsite/FAQs.nsf/6683DCE2E5871DF9852565BC00785DDF/9CC8E3348E52C78685256A7D005FF3CC?OpenDocument
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which was signed into
law in 2000 has designated 35 African countries to receive special
trading status has an informative website:
http://www.agoa.gov/
These two PDF documents are insightful into US-Africa trade,
detailing which African countries are seeing increasing imports and
which are flat or declining.
http://www.agoa.gov/TRDPROFL02.pdf
http://www.agoa.gov/annstats01.pdf
The link below is very helpful on all aspects of export, including
download of export documents in PDF and Microsoft Word formats.
http://www.trade.gov/td/tic/
They even have email counseling for all of your export questions:
http://web.ita.doc.gov/ticwebsite/tic.nsf/af34fa880278bdd58525690d00656c6f/379e466dba55e7f585256b28005c9457!OpenDocument
I found very helpful people by calling their 800 number –
1-800-USA-TRADE.
This link off the Corporate Council on Africa website should really
help, it is a one page directory of links to every country in Africa
and their official website. Here is the link:
http://www.africacncl.org/Links/index.htm
Here is the Country Commercial guide to Uganda:
http://www.state.gov/www/about_state/business/com_guides/2000/africa/uganda00_06.html
The Department of State produced Country Commercial Guides are an
invaluable source of information in trading with any country in the
world, and African countries are no exception. The CCGs give specifics
on imports, as well as the possible pitfalls you can expect in country
by country documents.
For more African Country Commercial Guides, go here:
http://www.state.gov/www/about_state/business/com_guides/2001/africa/
I sincerely hope that this will aid you in your business endeavors in
Africa, and once again, I am at your service, should you need
additional clarification.
Regards,
Colin
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