On 6 February, tralac (through tralac Associate Eckart Naumann) joined the Tourism, Trade and Investment Promotion Agency for Cape Town (WESGRO), along with the US embassy, the USAID Trade and Investment Hub (SATIHUB) and the Department of Trade and Industry, in presenting an exporter-focused AGOA seminar at the new Invest SA One Stop Shop in Cape Town’s CBD.

Attendance at the seminar was oversubscribed and attracted a diverse range of interested stakeholders. This included representatives from industries such as seafood, textiles and clothing, petrochemicals, wine, furniture, food services, agri-processing, homeware, meat, fruit, among others.

The seminar gave participants a broad overview of AGOA, but also focused on many important legislative, political and technical aspects relevant to traders, helping exporters create a clearer picture of the opportunities offered through AGOA.

Topics covered included the following:

• The broader political dimension and experiences during the AGOA renewal process (and the role of South Africa in resolving some of the issues around chicken, beef and pork imports from the US);

• US law-making, legislative history and future of AGOA (with 7 years to go prior to expiry);

• Product coverage, the applicable US tariff regime for exporters from AGOA beneficiaries, and the rules of origin (local processing requirements);

• The bilateral US-Africa and US-South Africa trade relationship and performance;

• Available online AGOA resources;

• Relevant US food safety standards and requirements (through a presentation by the US Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services APHIS); and

• A presentation on the range of exporter support services offered by USAID’s Southern African Trade and Investment Hub (SATIHUB).