Comparative advantage in the southern africa customs union sacu. Preferential trade agreement between the common market of the south mercosur and the southern african customs union sacu. The agreement set up a council of ministers com as the. The 2002 sacu agreement provides for closer economic integration through the. Sacu countries do not charge import tariffs among themselves, because they are in a customs union. The new agreement democratizes relations between sa and botswana, lesotho, namibia and swaziland blns. Articles 40 and 41 of the sacu agreement among the five member states botswana, lesotho.
The new agreement represents an important element in the reshaping of the southern african region following the demise of apartheid in south africa. Objectives of the new agreement amazon web services. United statessouthern african customs union sacu free trade. This agreement applies neither to the trade relations amongst the efta states, nor to the trade. The southern african customs union sacu is a single customs territory and has a common external customs tariff. The 2002 sacu agreement, which became fully operational in 2004. On 5 november 2002 the united states and the countries of the southern. You can download this page as a pdf using your browsers print functionality. Customs area are traded freely among the member states, free of customs duties and. The sacu agreement that is currently in place, was published in notice r. This was to form an addendum to the sacu agreement of 2002. Whereas the framework agreement for the creation of a free trade area between mercosur and the republic of south africa provides for a first stage of actions aimed at increasing trade, including the mutual granting of tariff preferences. Recognising that the customs union agreement concluded on 11.
Negotiations to launch a free trade agreement fta between the united states and the five members of the southern african customs union sacu botswana. This agreement has been enacted into south africa law in terms of the customs and excise act, 1964 by publication in notice r1288 gg 40356 of 21 october 2016 and. South africa and the southern african customs union. Challenges to implement bpm6 in southern african customs union. That is, they enter into a free trade agreement fta and apply a common external tariff. This paper presents an analysis of the potential effects of a us bilateral free trade agreement fta with the southern african customs union sacu, whose members include botswana, lesotho, namibia, south africa, and swaziland. In sadc, the member states have entered into an agreement to phase out all tariffs to zero by 2012. Free trade agreement between the efta states and the sacu states. The issues in the negotiations between the southern african customs union sacu and the us for a free trade area are complex and difficult. The authors sought to find out whether the southern african customs union sacu possesses comparative advantage. Amendments to the southern african customs union agreement, 2002, to institutionalise the sacu summit, 20. Goods grown, produced or manufactured in the common. Nearly all intrasacu trade in goods is free of barriers.
Sacu shall be an international organization, and shall have legal personality with capacity and power to enter into contracts, acquire, own or. Wttpr s324 southern african customs union 5 harmonized within sacu. The sacu agreement, 2002 covers trade in goods, agriculture and trade facilitation. The sacu agreement dates back to 1910 when the then union of south africa and the socalled high commission territories of bechuanaland, basutoland and swaziland signed a customs union agreement. Southern african customs union sacu agreement of 2002 to. In relation to sacu, the meaning to be attributed to parties or party in each case is to be deduced from the relevant provisions ofthis agreement and from the respective competencies ofsacu and the sacu states as they foliow from the sacu agreement 2002, as amended from time to time. Assessing the impact of tripsplus patent rules in the proposed ussacu free trade agreement jonathan berger and achal prabhala1 introduction on 4 november 2002, former united states trade representative ustr robert. The council is supported by the commission of senior officials a group of technical experts and a sacu secretariat, located in windhoek, namibia. It was subsequently renegotiated amongst the five member countries in the mid1990s which culminated in the signing of the new sacu agreement in october 2002.
Customs area are, however, traded freely among member states, free of. Because of the sacu, the south africaeu agreement effectively grants the eu free access to the markets of the blns countries but does not grant the blns countries reciprocal access to the eu markets. Assessing the impact of tripsplus patent rules in the. On november 4, 2002, united states trade representative ustr robert b. A customs union cu is a form of trade agreement under which certain countries preferentially grant tarifffree market access to each others imports and agree to apply a common set of external tariffs to imports from the rest of the world.
The southern african customs union sacu is a customs union among five countries of southern africa. It establishes a council of ministers as highest decisionmaking body where decisions taken by consensus. Under the 2002 sacu agreement, the sacu council of ministers is the supreme decisionmaking body for sacu. This report will be updated as negotiations progress. All sadc countries are implementing the agreement, except for angola, seychelles and the democratic republic of congo.
Under the 2002 sacu agreement, the sacu council of ministers is the. The southern african customs union sacu was established in 1910 as a customs union agreement between the union of south africa and the high commission territories of bechuanaland, basutoland and swaziland. The sacu agreement was renegotiated during the mid1990s and culminated in its signing on 21 october 2002. Africa multilateral, department of trade and industry, briefed the committee on the annex on institutionalisation of the southern african customs union sacu summit. Agricultural agreement between the sacu states and iceland. For the time being, in the absence of a regional body, the international trade administration commission itac of south africa is responsible for managing the sacu common external tariff cet. The provisions on rules of origin are set out in annex v. Agricultural agreement between the sacu states and switzerland. Role of the sacu summit sacu 2002 agreement amended in to make a provision for the summit. After eight years of negotiations a new agreement was signed in october 2002. Southern african customs union sacu is a customs union5 consisting of botswana, lesotho, namibia, swaziland and south africa, providing for free trade in goods and a common external tariff. The preferential trade agreement has been concluded between the member states of the common market of the south and the member states of the southern african customs union sacu. Articles 40 and 41 of the sacu agreement among the five member states botswana, lesotho, namibia, south africa and swaziland.
South africa was a signatory member of the southern african customs union sacu, which was the worlds oldest customs union since 1910. It has since undergone extensive change resulting in the current 2002 agreement which includes an institutional framework. Botswana, lesotho, namibia, south africa and eswatini formerly swaziland. Sacus member states comprise of botswana, lesotho, namibia, south africa and swaziland. Introduction south africa, botswana, lesotho and swaziland established the southern african customs union sacu in 1969 as a continuance of their custom union arrangements, which are in force since 1910. Each member states share of the excise component is calculated from the value of its gross domestic product.
Southern african customs union agreement 2002 sacu. Zoellick notified congress of the administrations intention to launch negotiations for a free trade agreement fta with the southern african customs union sacu, comprised of botswana, namibia, lesotho, south africa, and swaziland. It retains the common external tariff cet for goods imported. Southern african customs union presented by ms xolelwa mlumbipeter. Free trade agreement between the european free trade association efta states and. Unless otherwise indicated, all references to provisions in the sacu agreement refer to the 2002 sacu agreement. Its headquarters are in the namibian capital, windhoek. Ustr notifies congress administration intends to initiate. An analysis of a ussouthern african customs union sacu. This report provides an indepth analysis of the legal provisions of the sacu agreement of 2002 dealing with regional cooperation on competition policy and crossborder unfair trade practices.
Imports from outside sacu are subject to a common external tariff. The proportion of duty free mfn tariff lines is up from 44. They found that south africa has comparative advantage in the production of 727. Free trade agreement between the efta states and the sacu.
It seeks to entrench a democratic approach to trade policy while. Sacu agreement between the governments of the republic of botswana, the kingdom of lesotho, the republic of namibia, the republic. In this paper, we outline the main characteristics of the 2002 agreement and assess whether it meets the negotiators original objectives. Members of sacu have been engaged in consultations over the past decade to address some irregularities in the revenuesharing agreement. He gave some background on the sacu, noting that it in fact predated 1910. Customs union among south africa, botswana, lesotho, namibia and swaziland. This potential agreement would be subject to congressional approval. Whereas the sacu agreement of 2002 makes provision for the establishment of a. The headquarters of sacu shall be in windhoek in the republic of namibia. The sacu agreement was then renegotiated and signed in 2002 and entered into force on 15 july 2004. There is established the southern african customs union hereinafter referred to as sacu. The southern africa customs union was first established in 1889 between the cape of good hope and the orange free state. Article 7 rules of origin and administrative cooperation 1.
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