Shippers and transporters in the SADC region have access to an online reporting and monitoring service that was launched as part of the roll-out of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to tackle the problem of non-tariff barriers. The site, which is accessible by mobile phone, is https://www. tradebarriers. org. “This webbased NTBs (non-tariff barriers) reporting, monitoring and eliminating mechanism is accessible to economic operators, government functionaries, academic researchers and other interested parties,” says the website. Complaints registered on the website include hold-ups in the clearing of a container in Durban, “lengthy and costly” customs clearance in Kenya, and SARS delaying transit cargo bound for Lesotho that was landed in Cape Town. Non-tariff barriers continue to hamper regional trade, despite the fact that the SADC Protocol on Trade requires member states to implement measures eliminating all existing nontariff barriers and to refrain from adding any new ones. The most common barriers in the SADC are sanitary and phytosanitary restrictions, certification procedures, quantity control measures, other technical regulations, government procurement, investment restrictions and intellectual property rights, according to the authors of a study sponsored by the UN Conference on Trade and Development titled ‘Sand in the wheels: non-tariff measures and regional integration in the SADC’.
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SADC non-tariff barriers can now be reported on a mobi site.