Building capacity to help Africa trade better

Southern African Development Community-European Union Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA): Booklet

Southern African Development Community-European Union Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA): Booklet

Southern African Development Community-European Union Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA): Booklet

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The SADC – EU EPA is a comprehensive economic partnership agreement between the European Union and  South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Eswatini, and Mozambique. Angola has applied to accede to the EPA.

The Agreement was signed on 10 June 2016. Market access provisions entered into force on 1 November 2016.

The SADC-EU EPA provides preferential access to the EU market for 98.7% of South African goods (96.2% fully duty free and 2.5% partially). Goods that are partially duty free are subject to Tariff Rate Quotas (TRQs).

The EPA has a strong focus on regional integration and fostering regional value chains in the SADC EPA group of countries. The SADC EPA group of countries does not consist of the entire SADC bloc, but rather members of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) plus Mozambique, with an option for Angola to join in the future. Since it is a customs union, SACU always negotiates trade agreements as a bloc. In this case, Mozambique (and Angola) are also included.

The SADC-EU EPA is a reciprocal trade agreement, meaning both the EU and the SADC EPA group offer preferential market access to each other; however, the EU provides greater preferential and duty free access, while the SADC EPA group are allowed to maintain protection of sensitive sectors.

Rules of Origin (RoO): To be eligible for preferential treatment under a trade agreement, a product needs to originate (fully or partially) in a country that is party to the trade agreement. The criteria for what percentage of inputs can be sourced externally depends on the specific RoO contained in the agreement. The SADC EPA RoO are formulated to support the development of regional value chains and enable producers to source inputs from various other countries without losing free access to the EU.

Download the full booklet for further information.

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