Duty-free SADC comes of age this year

The Southern African Development Community Free Trade Agreement (SADC FTA) will be fully implemented during 2012 – and that will make more than 90% of the trade in the region duty free. Whilst the FTA was concluded several years ago, it has taken time for it to be implemented by each of the 12 countries that have accepted it. According to Dr Brendan Vickers, chief director, trade policy and research with the international trade and economic division of the Department of Trade and Industry, 12 of the 15 countries of the Southern African Customs Union are members of the SADC FTA that is aimed at increasing intra-regional trade by creating an enabling environment where doing business can happen at lower costs. Member states include Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Madagascar. Angola, the Seychelles and the DRC are the only countries that have not signed up to the FTA. “Once it is fully implemented efforts will focus on consolidating it throughout the region and ensuring that all members adhere to the agreement before we look at any deeper integration,” said Vickers. He said negotiations with the three non-members continued, as they remained important markets to tap into. “Our focus is to see full compliance of the FTA and to ensure that our partners do not renege on their commitment by introducing any non-tariff barriers.” Already Zimbabwe has been a major concern with surcharges and taxes raised without consideration of the FTA. Vickers said this was currently being addressed. “The unpredictability of exporting to Zimbabwe is improving and a lot of development is taking place across the country, but we are conscious of the concerns that have been raised around nontariff barriers and these are being addressed as we try to resolve the matter bilaterally.” He said while there were still holes in the FTA it would without doubt see an improvement in South African exports into the region. “Trade in the region has doubled since 2000 and we would like to see it continuing to increase through the FTA.”