Chief negotiators of the European Union and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) EPA Group (Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland) have concluded negotiations for an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), it was announced Tuesday.
The agreement takes into account the differences in the level of development between the EU and its African partners. It will open a long-term perspective of duty- and, quota-free access to the EU market for products from Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Swaziland.
South Africa will trade with the EU on the basis of improved conditions that build on the existing EU-South Africa Trade, Development and Cooperation Agreement (TDCA).
The EU, in turn, will gain improved access to the SADC EPA market, particularly in the field of agriculture. Also, when SADC EPA countries will be ready to grant more far-reaching concessions to the Europe's main competitors, the EU will be able to claim those same improvements.
The members of the SADC EPA group will continue being able to shield sensitive sectors from European competitors in their domestic market. In addition, they can invoke a number of safeguards incorporated in the agreement.
This will offer them all the necessary flexibility, so that trade can work for and not against development. Following the same logic, the EU has also taken a commitment to refrain from subsidizing its agricultural exports to the region.
The SADC EPA Group consists of 6 out of 15 members of the Southern African Development Community (Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland and South Africa) plus Angola, which may join the agreement in future.
The other eight SADC Member States (Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Seychelles, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe) are negotiating in other regional EPA configurations.
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