Africa-Press – Botswana. In an effort to deepen economic partnerships, promote inclusive growth, and ensure mutual benefits for all stakeholders, ministers and senior officials from the Southern African Customs Union Member States, Mozambique and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (SACUM-UK), convened the First Joint Council Meeting under the SACUM-UK Economic Partnership Agreement (SACUM-UK EPA) in Gaborone on Tuesday.
The meeting was attended by SACU member states, being Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, as well as Mozambique and the UK.
A communiqué issued jointly, on behalf of the SACU, Mozambique and United Kingdom Joint Council, says the two-day Joint Council was meant to take stock of progress made in the implementation of the agreement and endorse several key decisions, including approval of the Rules of Procedure (RoP) for the Joint Council and the Trade and Development Committee (TDC).
“The Joint Council welcomed the progress towards finalising the list of 21 arbitrators and looks forward to the adoption of the list by the TDC for the purposes of implementing Articles 80 and 94 of the SACUM-UK EPA.
It further commended the collaborative efforts in finalising the RoP for Dispute Avoidance and Settlement and the Code of Conduct for Arbitrators and Mediators and was pleased to adopt the decision as recommended by the TDC.
“Equally, the Joint Council underscored the importance of continued collaboration to advance the SACUM-UK EPA’s objectives,” the communique states.
In his opening remarks, during the two-day First Joint Council for the SACUM-UK EPA, the Minister of Trade and Entrepreneurship, Mr Tiroeaone Ntsima, expressed delight that the trade policy that the region was embarking on sketched a positive trajectory for developments in the SACU region and Mozambique.
“As a family we are confident that the EPA would further contribute to our common development aspirations with the UK,” he said.
Mr Ntsima said since the coming into effect of the SACUM-UK EPA on January 1, 2021, senior officials and experts undertook to advance work towards the full implementation of the EPA and to conclude the Built-in Agenda and Transitional Arrangements.
For that reason, the minister said the meeting also presented an opportune moment to receive an update on the work, as well as to sign the legal documents for the establishment of the institutions governing the EPA.
Regarding the trade profile, the minister said the SACU-UK trade flows revealed significant shifts, before and after the entry into force of the.
In 2019, he said the SACU exports to the UK rose from R69 billion to R71 billion in 2020, followed by a surge to R122.2 billion in 2021, following the implementation of the EPA.
“This pattern was not sustained in subsequent years with exports declining to R105 billion in 2022 and R99 billion in 2023. Meanwhile, imports from the UK recorded about R644 billion in 2019 and R482 billion in 2020,”he added.
Furthermore, Mr Ntsima said during 2019 the region realised imports from UK to the tune of R30 billion followed by a marginal increase to R37 billion by 2023, which could be attributed to the effects of COVID-19.
Mr Ntsima revealed a diverse array of products, with a significant emphasis on both raw materials and processed goods according to the analysis of SACU’s top exported commodities to the UK.
Leading the exports, he said included natural, cultured pearls, precious stones, and precious metals, as well as vehicles and their parts, ores, slag, and soda ash.
“At the same time, the analysis of the top imported commodities from UK reveals critical trends in consumption patterns.”
Notably, nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances, as well as vehicles and their parts indicating a strong reliance on automotive imports to support domestic transportation and infrastructure and beverages, spirits and vinegar.
Further, Mr Ntsima noted that SACU member states adopted a Strategic Plan for 2022-2027, structured around five core strategic pillars, which shaped SACU’s trade policy.
In this regard, he said SACU had identified industrialisation as an overarching objective to deepen regional economic integration through the development of Regional Value Chains.
He said SACU’s priority sectors, have been identified as agro-processing, fruits and vegetables, meat and meat products and leather and leather products, textiles and clothing, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics and essential oils, automotives and mineral beneficiation, fertilisers, agro-chemicals and seed production.
To support the industrialisation and trade agenda in SACU, Mr Ntsima said the SACU Trade Facilitation and Logistics Programme was adopted, as a framework that outlined six broad parameters for customs cooperation and collaboration by the SACU member states, which also facilitates their adherence to obligations at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), such as the Trade Facilitation Agreements, as well as obligations under Free Trade Agreements such as the SACUM-UK EPA.
The SACU member states and Mozambique continue to support a rules-based Multilateral Trading System that is predictable and transparent and contributes to inclusive and sustainable development.
Since entry into force of the SACUM-UK EPA, Minister Ntsima said the SACU region has not negotiated any new trade agreements, but there have been advancement at the continental level with the entry into force of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in May 2019 and trading, under the AfCFTA officially commencing on January 1, 2021.
He said all SACU member states and Mozambique were parties to the AfCFTA as they had ratified the agreement, which established the AfCFTA.
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