After more than a decade of negotiations, the 28-member European Union (EU) and six (of 15) Southern African Development Community (SADC) members - namely Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland - on 10 June 2016 in Kasane, Botswana, signed the SADC Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). This development-oriented agreement is the first of its kind with an African region pursuing regional economic integration.
According to the EU, the SADC EPA takes into account the different levels of development of each partner, guaranteeing Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, and Swaziland duty-free, quota-free access to the EU market. South Africa benefits from enhanced market access, going beyond the existing bilateral arrangement. The agreement provides increased flexibility of southern African producers for accumulation, as well as a number of protective measures for fragile industries or for food security reasons.
The agreement was signed by Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström on behalf of the EU. Commissioner Malmström said: "Trade is a tool to spur economic growth and sustainable development. It's also an important factor for integrating regions and forming stronger bonds between countries. With the EPA that we are signing today, we want to base our trade relations with our partners in the Southern African region on commonly agreed, stable rules. Trade has helped lift millions of people from poverty throughout the years. Thanks to agreements like this one, we are preparing the ground for that process to continue."
The Southern African markets will open gradually and partially to EU exports, in an asymmetric way. In the process of diversifying their economies and broadening production, imports of certain goods are important for Southern African countries - certain industrial parts, seeds and machinery, for instance. The import duties on many of these so-called intermediary goods will be significantly reduced, making the products more easily accessible to Southern African entrepreneurs.
For the South African market specifically, particular advantage has been granted to EU producers of traditional quality products with a worldwide reputation – for example wines and food products – that will now get the exclusive right to use their traditional names, or 'geographical indications', in South Africa.
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