South africa was a signatory member of the southern african customs union sacu, which was the worlds oldest customs union since 1910. Free trade agreement between the efta states and the sacu states. Sacu shall be an international organization, and shall have legal personality with capacity and power to enter into contracts, acquire, own or. The sacu agreement was renegotiated during the mid1990s and culminated in its signing on 21 october 2002. The southern african customs union sacu is a customs union among five countries of southern africa. Objectives of the new agreement amazon web services. Africa multilateral, department of trade and industry, briefed the committee on the annex on institutionalisation of the southern african customs union sacu summit. Role of the sacu summit sacu 2002 agreement amended in to make a provision for the summit. The sacu agreement was then renegotiated and signed in 2002 and entered into force on 15 july 2004.
South africa and the southern african customs union. You can download this page as a pdf using your browsers print functionality. Negotiations to launch a free trade agreement fta between the united states and the five members of the southern african customs union sacu botswana. It seeks to entrench a democratic approach to trade policy while. Customs area are, however, traded freely among member states, free of. Preferential trade agreement between the common market of the south mercosur and the southern african customs union sacu. It has since undergone extensive change resulting in the current 2002 agreement which includes an institutional framework. 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 headquarters of sacu shall be in windhoek in the republic of namibia.
The sacu agreement, 2002 covers trade in goods, agriculture and trade facilitation. The council is supported by the commission of senior officials a group of technical experts and a sacu secretariat, located in windhoek, namibia. 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. Imports from outside sacu are subject to a common external tariff. The agreement set up a council of ministers com as the. Wttpr s324 southern african customs union 5 harmonized within sacu. 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. After eight years of negotiations a new agreement was signed in october 2002. Its headquarters are in the namibian capital, windhoek. The sacu agreement was renegotiated in 1969 when namibia gained independence from south africa and became a contracting party to the agreement. 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. The sacu agreement that is currently in place, was published in notice r.
Southern african customs union agreement 2002 sacu. Agricultural agreement between the sacu states and switzerland. The new agreement represents an important element in the reshaping of the southern african region following the demise of apartheid in south africa. It retains the common external tariff cet for goods imported. Under the 2002 sacu agreement, the sacu council of ministers is the. 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. It establishes a council of ministers as highest decisionmaking body where decisions taken by consensus. Sacu agreement between the governments of the republic of botswana, the kingdom of lesotho, the republic of namibia, the republic. Unless otherwise indicated, all references to provisions in the sacu agreement refer to the 2002 sacu agreement. This potential agreement would be subject to congressional approval.
Assessing the impact of tripsplus patent rules in the. Whereas the sacu agreement of 2002 makes provision for the establishment of a. Comparative advantage in the southern africa customs union sacu. They found that south africa has comparative advantage in the production of 727.
He gave some background on the sacu, noting that it in fact predated 1910. Article 7 rules of origin and administrative cooperation 1. 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. In this paper, we outline the main characteristics of the 2002 agreement and assess whether it meets the negotiators original objectives. Free trade agreement between the european free trade association efta states and. 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. 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. Members of sacu have been engaged in consultations over the past decade to address some irregularities in the revenuesharing agreement. 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. An analysis of a ussouthern african customs union sacu. Sacu agreement 2002 pdf download download zone 261 movie. The authors sought to find out whether the southern african customs union sacu possesses comparative advantage.
United statessouthern african customs union sacu free trade. Articles 40 and 41 of the sacu agreement among the five member states botswana, lesotho, namibia, south africa and swaziland. Southern african customs union sacu agreement of 2002 to. Amendments to the southern african customs union agreement, 2002, to institutionalise the sacu summit, 20. All sadc countries are implementing the agreement, except for angola, seychelles and the democratic republic of congo. The 2002 sacu agreement provides for closer economic integration through the. Southern african customs union presented by ms xolelwa mlumbipeter. 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. Each member states share of the excise component is calculated from the value of its gross domestic product. Customs union among south africa, botswana, lesotho, namibia and swaziland. 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.
Under the 2002 sacu agreement, the sacu council of ministers is the supreme decisionmaking body for sacu. Ustr notifies congress administration intends to initiate. That is, they enter into a free trade agreement fta and apply a common external tariff. This was to form an addendum to the sacu agreement of 2002. Agricultural agreement between the sacu states and iceland. This agreement applies neither to the trade relations amongst the efta states, nor to the trade. 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. The issues in the negotiations between the southern african customs union sacu and the us for a free trade area are complex and difficult. 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 provisions on rules of origin are set out in annex v. The 2002 sacu agreement, which became fully operational in 2004, provided for a more democratic structure that reduces reliance on south africa for administrative decisions. 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. 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. Free trade agreement between the efta states and the sacu.
Botswana, lesotho, namibia, south africa and eswatini formerly swaziland. Recognising that the customs union agreement concluded on 11. The proportion of duty free mfn tariff lines is up from 44. Goods grown, produced or manufactured in the common. The southern african customs union sacu is a single customs territory and has a common external customs tariff. This report will be updated as negotiations progress. 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. In sadc, the member states have entered into an agreement to phase out all tariffs to zero by 2012. On 5 november 2002 the united states and the countries of the southern. The southern africa customs union was first established in 1889 between the cape of good hope and the orange free state. Challenges to implement bpm6 in southern african customs union. On november 4, 2002, united states trade representative ustr robert b. From its origins in 1910 sacu has been characterized by striking asymmetries in policies, levelsof development and administrative capacity.
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