HS Code 5702.42 — Carpets and other textile floor coverings, woven, not tufted or flocked, whether or not made up, including “kelem”, “schumacks”, “karamanie” and similar hand-woven rugs: Of man-made

The South African import duty on woven carpets and other textile floor coverings of pile construction made of man-made textile materials under HS code 5702.42 is 30% MFN, with 15% VAT charged on the ATV (FOB customs value × 1.10 + duty). Preferential rates under SADC and the EU-SADC EPA can reduce duty to 0% with valid origin certification — but ITAC anti-dumping determinations on chapter-57 carpets have historically applied additional duties that must be checked at clearance time.

Customs Duty Rate

The customs duty rate for HS Code 5702.42 is 30%. Duty is calculated on the FOB customs value (the goods value at the point of loading onto the carrier; international freight and insurance are not part of the duty base). Import VAT is then 15% of the Added Tax Value (ATV) — customs value + 10% uplift (for non-SACU origin; nil for BLNS countries) + non-rebated duty.

Product description — what HS 5702.42 actually covers

HS 5702.42 covers other carpets and other textile floor coverings, woven, not tufted or flocked, whether or not made up, made up of man-made textile materials, of pile construction. The combination of qualifiers narrows it precisely:

• Woven (not tufted — those go to 5703 — and not flocked or needled)
• Pile construction (knotted, looped or cut pile, not a flat-weave kilim)
• Man-made textile materials dominant (polypropylene, polyester, nylon, viscose, acrylic — not wool, cotton, jute or coir)
• Made up (finished — bound, hemmed, fringed, ready for floor use)

In practice this is the volume line for:

• Mass-market machine-woven Wilton, Axminster and chenille rugs (polypropylene-blend or polyester-blend)
• Modern faux-Persian woven rugs in synthetic fibres
• Polypropylene outdoor-grade woven rugs (patio and verandah use)
• Synthetic-fibre stair runners
• Hotel and hospitality woven carpet runs in man-made fibres

What 5702.42 does NOT cover: hand-knotted wool or mohair carpets (5701.10 — already documented), tufted carpets (5703.x), needled and bonded carpets (5704.x), wool or animal-hair woven carpets (different 5702 sub-line), flat-weave kilims (other 5702 sub-line), or specialty floor tiles (chapter 39 or 68 depending on material).

The 30% MFN headline is the upper end of SACU protection — chapter 57 floor coverings sit alongside ready-made textiles in the most-protected SA tariff band, supporting the local carpet-manufacturing cluster (KZN and Gauteng).

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SA importer profile

The 5702.42 traffic into South Africa concentrates in four buyer-types:

• Carpet and floor-covering retailers — Carpet Cube, Hertex, Floortex, Floorworx and the larger national chains — importing house-brand and licensed-brand product from Belgian, Dutch, Turkish, Egyptian and Chinese sources.
• Mass-market furniture and decor retailers — Mr Price Home, @home, Sheet Street — carrying woven synthetic rugs as a decor-product line.
• Hospitality fit-out specialists importing patterned and plain woven carpet runs for hotel-corridor and meeting-room applications.
• Interior designers and project specifiers sourcing single-project shipments for residential and commercial projects.

Volume routes via FCL sea freight (Antwerp, Hamburg, Istanbul, Alexandria, Shanghai/Ningbo) with LCL for smaller orders. Rolls of carpet are bulky — a 4m x 3m woven rug occupies 0.15 m³, a 50-roll FCL is the typical volume unit. Lead times from European factory to SA install/store run 6–10 weeks; ex-Asia closer to 10–14 weeks.

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Import procedure — step by step

1. Confirm the line classification. 5702.42 is woven, pile-construction, man-made textile materials. Tufted carpets go to 5703.x; wool/animal-hair woven carpets to a different 5702 sub-line; flat-weaves to other 5702 lines. Get the supplier’s product specification showing weave method and fibre composition.
2. Origin certificate for preferential entry. EUR.1 or REX for EU origin (Belgian, Dutch, German carpet manufacturers route EPA-eligible). SADC for member state. SACU for intra-SACU. For Turkish-origin product, check the current SA-Turkey arrangement; for Egyptian, check the SADC-EFTA and any bilateral position. Chinese origin stays at full 30% MFN unless reclassified through a substantial-transformation country.
3. ITAC anti-dumping check. Chapter 57 carpets have been subject to SACU-protective measures historically; check the active ITAC register for the 5702.42 sub-line and country of origin at clearance.
4. SARS Importer Code (CCN) in place.
5. SABS / SANS compliance — fire-rating for hospitality. Hospitality and commercial-grade carpet installations must meet SANS 10400-T (fire safety) requirements; the supplier’s flame-spread test certificate (typically EN 13501-1 European classification or equivalent ASTM) is the procurement-side evidence. Not a SARS gate but a project-procurement gate for hotels, restaurants, schools and offices.
6. Book freight. Carpet rolls in plastic wrap pallets, FCL stuffing optimised for cube (typically 50–80 rolls per 40′ container depending on dimensions), LCL palletisation with end-caps to protect roll edges.
7. File the SAD500. Box 33: 5702.42 (or applicable sub-line). Box 31: “Woven carpet, pile construction, [polypropylene / polyester / nylon] fibre, pattern [name], dimensions [m x m], quantity [N rolls / units]”. Attach commercial invoice, origin certificate, fibre-composition declaration, packing list, freight invoice.
8. Pay duty (0–30% plus any active ITAC ADD) and 15% VAT. VAT-registered retailers and fit-out specialists reclaim VAT.
9. Archive the audit pack.

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SAD500 worked example — Belgian machine-woven carpet for a hotel-corridor refurbishment

Scenario: a SA hospitality fit-out specialist imports 850 m² of Belgian machine-woven polypropylene carpet for a 4-star hotel-corridor refurbishment (32 rolls). Invoice value EUR 19,500 (EUR 22.94/m² FOB ex-works), freight EUR 1,420 (LCL Cape Town), insurance EUR 220. At R20.40 per EUR the CIF lands at R432,888. EU-SADC EPA preferential origin claimed with valid EUR.1.

Line	Amount
CIF value	R432,888.00
Customs duty — EU EPA preferential (0%)	R0.00
(vs MFN 30% = R129,866.40 if no certificate)	(R129,866.40)
Anti-dumping (no active determination on EU origin)	R0.00
VAT base (FOB × 1.10 + duty)	R476,176.80
Import VAT (15%)	R71,426.52
SARS EDI / release	R175.00
Specialist clearing agent fee	R2,850.00
Total landed cost (with EPA)	R507,339.52
Per-m² landed cost	R596.87

For the same volume from a Chinese supplier with an illustrative 30% active ITAC anti-dumping determination (assume CIF R432,888 for like-for-like comparison):

Line	Amount
CIF value	R432,888.00
Customs duty (30% MFN)	R129,866.40
ITAC anti-dumping (30% illustrative)	R129,866.40
VAT base	R692,620.80
Import VAT (15%)	R103,893.12
Total landed cost (China + ADD)	R766,647.52
Cost premium vs EU EPA	R259,308.00

The R259,000 swing on a R432k CIF order is decisive at the bid stage — origin selection on chapter 57 lines is the single highest-impact procurement decision after fibre and pattern.

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SARS pitfalls — what gets the carpet importer audit-trailed

ITAC anti-dumping creep on Chinese-origin carpets. Chapter 57 has been a recurring SACU-protective measure target. ADD determinations are country-and-exporter granular — a non-named Chinese exporter at a known factory may enjoy the residual rate. The ITAC register is the authoritative source at clearance time.

Origin-certificate technical failures. Same chapter-94 risk profile. EU manufacturers are usually familiar with EUR.1 process; Turkish suppliers operate under different bilateral arrangements that change periodically.

Classification creep — 5702.42 vs 5703 (tufted) vs 5701.10 (hand-knotted). A “machine-woven Persian” that is actually tufted (production process: tufting machine inserts pile through a backing fabric) routes to 5703 with a different MFN rate. A “hand-knotted Persian” — actually hand-knotted — routes to 5701.10 with a 5% MFN. Get the supplier’s product specification.

Fibre-composition challenges. A “wool-blend” carpet that is actually 70% polypropylene and 30% wool routes to 5702.42 (man-made dominant), not the wool sub-line. SARS auditors sometimes pull fibre tests on borderline product. The supplier’s fibre-composition declaration is the protection.

Roll-length and width declarations. Floor-covering importers declare roll dimensions to enable duty calculation per linear unit on certain sub-lines. Inaccurate declarations trigger post-entry adjustments.

Counterfeit and design-IP risk. “Persian-style” machine-woven product copying registered design patterns can attract IP-rights enforcement queries. Genuine manufacturer documentation is the protection.

Bonded warehousing for staged distribution. Hotel-group rollouts often bond a fit-out import for staged release to individual properties. Bond movements must reconcile.

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Ready to import? What to do next

JLog runs FCL/LCL consolidation services out of Antwerp, Hamburg, Istanbul and Shanghai with dedicated chapter-57 clearing, ITAC anti-dumping pre-check, and bonded-warehouse staging for hotel-group rollouts and multi-store retail distribution. For project specifiers, we coordinate delivery against the construction or fit-out programme to land carpet rolls at the install site, not at a port warehouse.

Get a JLog Carpet & Floor Covering Logistics quote — FCL/LCL consolidation, EUR.1 origin paperwork, ITAC anti-dumping pre-check, bonded warehouse staging, scheduled site or store delivery. → https://jlog.co.za/get-a-quote/?hs=5702.42&service=floor-covering-logistics

Calculate your import duty & VAT — free JLog calculator

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the import duty on woven synthetic carpets into South Africa?

The import duty on woven carpets of pile construction made of man-made textile materials under HS 5702.42 is 30% MFN per SARS Schedule No. 1, Part 1. Preferential rates of 0% apply under SADC and the EU-SADC EPA with valid origin certification. Import VAT is 15% on ATV (FOB customs value × 1.10 + duty).

Does anti-dumping apply to Chinese-origin carpets?

Chapter 57 carpets have been a recurring SACU-protective measure target. Check the active ITAC anti-dumping register at clearance time for the specific 5702.42 sub-line and country of origin. Additional duties have applied historically.

My carpet is a wool-blend — does it still classify under 5702.42?

Only if man-made fibres are dominant. A wool-dominant blend routes to the wool sub-line of 5702 (different rate); a man-made-dominant blend with wool minority stays at 5702.42. SARS may pull fibre tests on borderline product; the supplier’s fibre-composition declaration is the protection.

My carpet is “machine-woven Persian-style” — is it 5702.42 or 5701.10?

Different lines. 5701.10 is hand-knotted carpets of wool or fine animal hair (5% MFN, a luxury line). 5702.42 is woven carpets of man-made fibres (30% MFN). The production process and fibre composition decide.

Are tufted carpets covered under 5702.42?

No. Tufted carpets — where the pile is inserted through a backing fabric by a tufting machine — route to 5703.x with a different MFN structure. 5702.42 is specifically woven, not tufted.

Do I need fire-safety certification to import carpet for a hospitality project?

Not for SARS clearance, but yes for SANS 10400-T compliance on the install. Hotels, restaurants, schools and offices specify flame-spread test certificates (EN 13501-1 European or equivalent ASTM). Procurement-side requirement, not a customs gate.