SADC to fast-track finalisation of EPA

MBONGENI MGUNI
Staff Writer | Friday June 25, 2010 00:00

The agreement and other timelines associated with the EPA negotiations were approved during a two-day SADC-EPA Ministers' Meeting in Gaborone last Thursday and Friday.

Under the approved strategy, Trade Ministers from Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, Mozambique and Angola have until September 2010 to conclude the various issues hindering the signing of an EPA.

Last week's meeting was also indicative of the prevailing regional cohesion, dealt a blow last June by the decision by some SADC-EPA states to hold back from an interim EPA (iEPA) with the EU. South Africa, Namibia and Angola declined citing unresolved issues and did not sign the iEPA, although Namibia initialled the document and attached its list of concerns to the document.

This week, information reaching BusinessWeek indicates that the ministers agreed to proposals hammered out by working groups looking at the various components of the EPA negotiations.

The ministers agreed that the senior officials in a dedicated session would negotiate outstanding issues under 'Swakopmund II, which was mooted and agreed to at the Brussels meeting in May. The name Swakopmund II is a nod to last year's meeting at the Namibian town where the SADC-EPA and the EU agreed upon five similarly contentious issues.

Still in the third quarter, the SADC -EPA grouping hopes another dedicated session at technical level will be established by July to achieve closure on the touchy matters related to alignment of market access tariffs between SACU, South Africa and the EU. South Africa presently enjoys a separate tariff regime with the EU under a Trade and Development Cooperation Agreement.

This particular dedicated session will also handle another hot topic, namely, rules of origin, with a target for completion by the third quarter of the year. Both dedicated sessions will comprise representatives from the SADC-EPA states and the European Commission.

Negotiations on trade in services and investment, which, together with trade in goods, makes up the comprehensive EPA, are to be concluded by 2014.

'Ministers noted the strategy proposed by senior officials aimed at concluding an inclusive EPA by the end of 2010 and negotiations on services and investment by 2014 and urged senior officials to ensure that the timelines are met,' reads a draft report from the Gaborone meeting. 'Ministers approved the strategy to conclude the EPA negotiations and agreed to communicate it to the European Commission.'

The trade in services and investment talks - a first for the SADC-EPA group - are expected to take up to five years, due to their complex and novel nature for the region.  The seven states took up the first of a European Commission offer on services and investment talks, namely, that negotiations will be deferred for five years while SADC-EPA states strengthen their regulatory frameworks.

The Gaborone meeting also tasked Trade and Industry Minister, Dorcas Makgato-Malesu, with engaging with the EU Trade Commissioner, Karel du Gucht, on behalf of the group. 'If there is need for a meeting of ministers, the SADC-EPA and EU ministers should be present,' the draft reads.

The SADC-EPA group is expected to meet its European Union counterparts by September. Members of SACU, who make up five of the seven SADC-EPA states, are due to meet in South Africa on July 15. The summit, which will be at Head of State level, will discuss the challenges facing the union.