5 April 2023: Joint Communiqué from the second meeting of the SACUM-UK EPA Trade and Development Committee
Updated 14 July 2023
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The Senior Officials from the Southern African Customs Union Member States (Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa) and Mozambique (SACUM), and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) held the second meeting of the Trade and Development Committee (TDC) under the SACUM-UK Economic Partnership Agreement (SACUM-UK EPA) on 5 April 2023.
The TDC took stock of actions resulting from its first meeting, in pursuance with its obligations to facilitate and supervise the implementation of the agreement. This included consideration of the multilateral safeguard’s exemption, development of the rules of procedure for the institutions established under the agreement, the selection of arbitrators, as well as other work undertaken in progressing the Builtin-Agenda (Article 117) and the Transitional Implementation Arrangements (Article 118).
SACUM welcomed the UK’s offer on multilateral safeguards, acknowledging that this demonstrates the UK’s commitment to the economic development of the SACU member states and Mozambique. The parties considered a draft decision to this effect and acknowledged the need for its finalisation and adoption by the Joint Council as soon as possible.
In considering the rules of procedure for the Joint Council and TDC, the parties appreciated the good progress made and further noted that these may be finalised in the coming weeks. The parties considered the progress made in the selection of arbitrators and clarified each other’s position as well as agreeing on the way forward with new timelines.
Under the Built-in Agenda, the parties noted that links to updated tariff schedules had been exchanged and work was continuing on exchanging information on the Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) utilisation data.
The parties further noted SACUM had submitted proposals on export taxes, and the scope and volume under the automatic derogation for tuna. Consolidated information had also been shared by the SACU Member States on Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Regimes, and capacity building needs respectively. The parties welcomed and encouraged the sharing of data on the utilisation of the preferential tariffs and tariff rate quotas (TRQs) under the Agreement.
The parties accepted that such a tool could identify any challenges that may need to be addressed to allow greater utilisation of preferences. The parties decided to continue intercessional work on various portfolios, and to hold the first meeting of the Joint Council this year.
SACU Secretariat, Email: info@sacu.int
Mr. Assane Ibraimo, Head of Communications, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Mozambique, Email: assaneibraimo14@gmail.com
Department for Business and Trade, UK, Email: tradeagreementimplementation@trade.gov.uk