Customs Union: South Africa is a member of the oldest Customs Union on record i.e. Southern African Customs Union (Sacu). The 5-member Customs Union includes Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland (BLNS-countries). In addition to the customs duty free movement of goods, a Customs Union also has an external customs tariff. This means that no customs duty on any product is payable by member countries of the Union and that imports from any nonmember country will be payable at the point of entry into the Union. In Sacu’s case, all customs duties collected at the points of entry i.e. airports, land border posts and ports are paid into a Central Revenue Fund. These duties are distributed to member countries on an annual basis according to a revenue sharing formula. Other than the single external customs duty, Customs Unions differ from FTAs in that all products are customs duty free. Common Market: In addition to the economic integration stages of a Customs Union, a Common Market provides for the free movement of people and capital i.e. free transfer of factor endowments (capital, technology, management/ know-how and labour). In order to address any crisis situation that may arise such us unemployment and foreign exchange shortages, the agreement between member countries will provide for the use of certain measures to rectify the situation. Although these forms of economic integration are seldom used today, in Southern Africa the 21-member Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) is still in operation Economic Union: The next stage in the economic integration process is the Economic Union whose acronym EU should not be confused with that of the European Union. In addition to the stages mentioned for the Common Market, it includes common economic policies. This implies that the member countries give up some of their sovereignty in pursuit of economic unity. There is a distinction between an Economic Union and a Monetary Union, in that with the exception of the United States of America (USA), no other group of nations has introduced their own currency. The latter should be qualified by stating that the Euro has been adopted by a number of the EU member states but not all. In the case of South Africa we are one of the 4-member countries of the Common Monetary Area (CMA). The other members are Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland. In terms of the agreement, the currencies in these countries are pegged against the South African rand. Political Union: This is the ultimate from of economic integration in that the sovereignty of member countries is resident in that of the Union. An example of such a Union is the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), previous to its integration in 1991. The establishment of a European Parliament is a first step on the road towards the formation of a European Political Union.
