Africa-Press – Eswatini. Local exporters are encouraged to take advantage of the United States of America’s (US) growing demand for consumer goods and new technologies that require imported raw or intermediate inputs.
The call for local exporters was presented by Tammy Dlamini who is the Senior Country Representative (Eswatini and Angola) for USAID Africa Trade and Investment Southern Africa Buy-in Activity. Dlamini made his presentation during the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) capacity building workshop for local exporters held at the Happy Valley Hotel last Friday.
Preparing
Dlamini stated that the demand is on organic and natural products, tree nuts e.g. macadamias, citrus fruits, sauces, jams and pastes. He said on non-agricultural products there was a demand of home décor materials, footwear, leather goods and apparel. Dlamini highlighted that when preparing for the US markets, exporters should make sure that their products comply with technical regulations and conformity assessment measures (e.g. labelling, Food Safety Modernisation Act and Food Safety Certification). He added that the products must be in compliance and registration with US Food and Drug Administration, US Customs and Border Protection and US Department of Agriculture and other important federal agencies that regulate products entering the US market. He said products must meet private standards expected by retailers and consumers. He said these were above and beyond national market access requirements. Dlamini further reiterated on the benefits of AGOA for Eswatini. He added that such benefits included that over 700 of the 6 400+ duty-free eligible products were agriculture products.
Exemptions
He said such resonate well with Eswatini because most products coming from Eswatini were agricultural products. He added that another benefit was that tariff exemptions increased competitiveness against products from non AGOA countries. He further stated that AGOA eligibility allowed for related trade capacity building support from the department of the United States (USG) agencies and AGOA eligibility increased potential for foreign direct investment and export growth. Dlamini said increased utilisation of AGOA would result in more job opportunities and exposure to the US market under the AGOA scheme created relationships which might continue after the AGOA programme ends.
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