FF Plus appeals to President not to sign the Copyright Amendment Bill

17 January 2020

The FF Plus is seriously calling on President Cyril Ramaphosa not to sign the Copyright Amendment Bill.

The FF Plus is of the opinion that trade agreements between South Africa and countries in Africa and elsewhere abroad could be seriously jeopardised due to the damaging and rash nature of the Bill, just as with other destructive policy directions of the ANC.

America's trade representative in South Africa, Robert Emmet Lighthizer, just announced that South Africa's status of eligibility for preferential trade will be reviewed in Washington on the 30th of January 2020 due to concerns about how the country deals with the protection of intellectual property.

America uses these preferential trade programmes to help developing countries to gain easier access into its market by making provision for the duty-free import of certain goods.

The FF Plus shares the Copyright Coalition of South Africa's concern that if the Bill is implemented it could lead to a staggering loss of R34 billion in export revenue should America not renew its preferential trade agreement with South Africa.

More than 6 000 products, including meat, fruit, vegetables, precious metals, chemicals, iron, steel and other manufactured goods, are affected by the trade agreement.

In the current economic climate, the President must act in the best interest of South Africa's economy and put political ideology aside.

Issued by Jaco Mulder, FF Plus MP and chief spokesperson: Trade and Industry, 17 January 2020