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SACU European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Agreement

EFTA – SACU free trade area was signed in June 2006, entered into force in May 2008 and was notified to WTO under GATT Article VVIV in the same year in October.  2008. Its current signatories are members of SACU namely Botswana; Lesotho; Namibia; South Africa; Eswatini on one side and EFTA members namely Iceland; Liechtenstein; Norway; Switzerland.  

  1. The Agreement covers trade in non-agricultural products, including fish and other marine products, and processed agricultural products.

  2.  Upon entry into force of the Agreement, EFTA States granted SACU members duty-free entry for all non-agricultural goods. SACU parties completed their phased liberalization process in 2017.

  3.  The Agreement contains provisions on, inter alia, mutual assistance in customs matters; IP protection and progressive harmonization of the legal framework, with a provision for a review after five years; cooperation and information exchange in the area of government procurement as well as an agreement to discuss further liberalization within five years; and provisions on future liberalization of trade in services and investment.

  4. From November 2016 to date the Parties started negotiations to review the agreement. The review is focusing on improving market access on processed agricultural products and basic agricultural products, improvement of customs procedures including harmonization of rules, trade facilitation and trade and sustainable development