Sean Woolfrey, tralac Researcher, discusses the appointment of Brazilian Ambassador Roberto Azevedo as the new head of the WTO and the challenges he faces Last week Brazilian Ambassador Roberto Azevedo was named as the successful candidate in the race to succeed outgoing World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General (DG) Pascal Lamy, who steps down from his post at [...]

Author:  Gerhard Erasmus ‘The main reason why Africa’s people are poor is because their leaders have made this choice.’ This is the opening sentence in a recent book about poverty in Africa and what to do about it.  The author argues, in a nutshell, that only political and institutional reforms will unlock Africa’s potential in [...]

Statement by Namibia’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Hon.  Carl Schlettwein; providing an update on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations. Download:  Namibia Ministerial statement on EPA April 2013.pdf

Presenting collaborative research by the Trade Law Centre (tralac) and the National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC), this book focuses on the group of developing countries that are now commonly referred to as the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and, since 2011, South Africa).  Key aspects of the trade and investment relationships among these countries are [...]

tralac hosted its 2013 Annual Conference in Cape Town, South Africa, on 25 and 26 April, providing an opportunity for frank engagement among stakeholders on the trade and regional integration agenda for eastern and southern Africa (‘the region’). Discussion was focused at three levels: first, Africa, and specifically regional developments; second, Africa and its relationship with [...]

Authors:  Ron Sandrey and Tania Gill The Trade and Development Cooperation Agreement (TDCA) between South Africa and the European Union (EU) is an important trade agreement for South Africa, as it enables preferential access to its largest market for many product lines. The Department of Trade and Industry (dti) reports that it was signed in [...]

Author: Ron Sandrey Abstract: The world’s economic and trading environments have changed since the 2010 publication of tralac’s South Africa’s way ahead: Shall we samba? In this update to that publication tralac examines how the South American Mercosur economies of Brazil in particular have fared from these changes, with again a special focus on agriculture [...]

Author:  Prof. Colin McCarthy, tralac Associate Introduction The Southern African Customs Union (SACU) is a customs union, as defined by having regional free trade behind a common external tariff (CET). This creates a common customs area covering the markets of Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland (BLNS).  Contrary to the conventional model of a [...]

Author:  Harry Zarenda, tralac Associate Introduction: This discussion paper recognises that there are, at present, ongoing Southern African Development Community (SADC) initiatives underway to construct a comprehensive Industrial Policy Framework for the region. The purpose of this paper is to highlight certain pertinent issues that ought to be brought into focus in the design and construction of [...]