S Africa joins SADC-EU trade talks

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JOHANNESBURG, Aug 28 (Xinhua): The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is negotiating economic partnership agreements (EPAs) with the European Union (EU), local Business Day reported here yesterday.
The report said the EPAs are crucial for future trade with the EU when a waiver on the current trade regime with the EU, the Cotonou agreement, expires at the end of the year.
The EPAs are trade deals with a developmental framework-a framework South Africa does not fit into.
However, in March last year, SADC requested the EU that South Africa be included in the negotiations.
The EU's first response was silence but eventually it agreed to include South Africa in the talks.
The argument that convinced the EU was that including South Africa would smooth the way for greater trade harmonisation, and ultimately help regional integration.
So South Africa is part of trade talks that could have considerable upside, despite the fact that as part of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) South Africa already enjoys a trade relationship with the EU.
However, it is unclear whether South Africa is considering the effect of its plans on industries in other Sacu countries, and whether it is communicating sufficiently with member countries about the planned changes.
The International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) -- which encourages fair trade through customs tariff investigations, trade remedies and import and export control-has begun a review of two large chapters of the tariff book, in a bid to eliminate tariffs on goods needed for government's multibillion-rand infrastructure programme.
The targetted chapters include many inputs for infrastructure development, but many other products are also included, such as washing machines, refrigerators, visual and sound equipment and spark plugs.