On 19 December 2019, the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) published the “Economic Partnership Agreement between the Southern African Customs Union Member States and Mozambique, of the One Part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the Other Part. Economic Partnership Agreement”. (SACUM-UK EPA)
The objectives of this Agreement are to:
(a) contribute to the reduction and eradication of poverty through the establishment of a trade partnership consistent with the objective of sustainable development, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Annex VII to this Agreement;
(b) promote regional integration, economic cooperation and good governance to establish and implement an effective, predictable and transparent regional regulatory framework for trade and investment between the Parties and among the SACUM;
(c) promote the gradual integration of the SACUM into the world economy in conformity with their political choices and development priorities;
(d) improve the SACUM’s capacity in trade policy and trade-related issues;
(e) support the conditions for increasing investment and private sector initiatives and enhancing supply capacity, competitiveness and economic growth in the SACUM; and
(f) strengthen the existing relations between the Parties on the basis of solidarity and mutual interest. To this end, consistent with World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations, this Agreement shall enhance commercial and economic relations, consolidate the implementation of the Protocol on Trade in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Region, signed on 24 August 1996 and the SACU Agreement, support a new trading dynamic between the Parties by means of the progressive, asymmetrical liberalisation of trade between them and reinforce, broaden and deepen cooperation in all areas relevant to trade.
Story by: Riaan de Lange
