GFA to support free trade in the SADC region

Since 2008 the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has become a free trade area except for three member states. This development provides for the elimination of import tariffs and non-tariff barriers (NTBs) to trade among SADC member states and aims, among other things, at harmonizing customs procedures and technical standards, as well as the liberalization of trade in services.

  

Intra-regional trade within the SADC region, however, has not kept pace with the growth of trade in the rest of the world due to challenges in implementing other aspects of the fundamental SADC Protocol on Trade (STP). Key problems are not only the still existing NTBs, but also the multiple and overlapping memberships of Regional Economic Communities of most SADC member states which complicate STP implementation. A split of SADC member states into four groupings that negotiate their Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the European Union (EU) further exacerbates the complexity of the regional economic integration agenda in the SADC region.

From 2015, GFA’s highly specialized experts will address these issues under the Trade Related Facility (TRF) that was formulated by SADC and is financed by the EU. They will strengthen the implementation of the international trade agreements to which SADC is a signatory and ensure the effective usage of these agreements in SADC member states. The project aims at contributing to increased trade and investment flows among SADC member states and other states all over the world. Between 2015 and 2019, GFA will strengthen the integration of SADC at regional level and in terms of its linkages with the global economy.