On 11 November 2021, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) released the following, under the title “UPDATE AND STATE OF PLAY OF THE AfCFTA”.
Preferential trade under the AfCFTA is not yet possible as the tariff schedules required are still being negotiated. Once an agreement is reached on the tariff schedules, they will be appended to Annex 1 to the AfCFTA for adoption by the AU Submit.
You may only start trading under preference once SARS has published the adopted schedules and a list of eligible countries.
Traders must wait for a publication from SARS giving effect to the tariff negotiations currently going on.
You are further invited to Notice R1433 in Government Gazette 44049 of 31 December 2020 where Egypt, Mauritius and Sao Tome were initially eligible to trade with South Africa under the AfCFTA.
As you know, Mauritius is trading with South Africa under the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Trade.
Goods from the other two countries do not qualify for AfCFTA preferential rates of duty as there are no reciprocal tariff offers, and negotiations are still ongoing.
SARS encourages traders to register under the AfCFTA so that once all outstanding matters are concluded and adopted, preferential trade can start immediately.
Follow the latest updates on countries that have ratified the agreement as well as trade negotiations at https://afcfta.au.int/en
Should you have any inquiries kindly direct them to afcfta@sars.gov.za