SADC’s Free Trade Area Bid On Course - Kalenga
Mmegi/The Reporter, Gaborone
SADC’s Free Trade Area Bid On Course - Kalenga
30 June 2008
By Fraser Mpofu, Harare
Southern African Development Community (SADC) is on course to achieving a free trade area by August 1 this year, the regional bloc’s trade adviser, Paul Kalenga has said.
Botswana is one of the SADC member states that have ratified the treaty that is aimed at enhancing free movement of goods within the region. Under the Free Trade Area (FTA) arrangement more than 80 percent of goods manufactured in any of the 14 SADC countries will be traded within the region duty-free. Kalenga said this is consistent with the region’s long drawn out strategy to achieve the Free Trade Area (FTA) status by the end of this year. Experts from the region last week held a Trade Law Centre of Southern Africa (Tralac) annual conference on regional trade in South Africa where the issue was discussed. While 80 percent of the goods would be traded duty-free, 20 percent of goods, which are regarded as highly sensitive to countries’ economies if they are traded freely, would attract duty.
Kalenga said only Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo are not part of the agreement. This means that 12 SADC member states agreed to the FTA initiative. He said: "The tariffs phase-down has been successfully achieved and beginning of August the regional bloc would be formulating structures."
Member states have been gradually reducing their tariffs over the past eight years, Kalenga said in preparation for the August FTA status.
SADC states signed the trade protocol to establish a free trade area in 1996 and the agreement was first implemented in September 2000 after 11 member states had ratified it. South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Mauritius, Angola, Swaziland and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are the SADC member states. The FTA is consistent with the SADC Treaty, under which member states commit themselves to eliminate obstacles to the free movement of goods, services, capital and labour.
By attaining the FTA status, the region has made a bold step towards achieving regional economic integration. SADC is also preparing for a customs union by 2010, a common market by 2015 and a monetary union in 2016. By the end of next year, SADC is expected to introduce a single visa system under which international tourists visiting any of the 14 countries would only need to obtain one visa for the country they first visit without the need to get another one if they visit another SADC country. This is meant, in part to facilitate easier movement tourists within the region particularly international visitors who are expected to descend on South Africa for the FIFA Soccer World Cup in 2010.
