UK - SACU and Mozambique Economic Partnership Agreement

SACU-UK Economic partnership agreement. October 2019

The SACU-Mozambique (SACU-M) UK Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) involves 6 member states from SADC of which 5 are from SACU (Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, Eswathini, Lesotho) and Mozambique   and the United Kingdom. The agreement was signed on October 10, 2019 following the exit of United Kingdom  from EU (BREXIT).

Key SACUM/UK Provisions:

1. The UK has undertaken to provide immediate duty-free, quota-free access (DFQF) to goods exported from the SACU member states and Mozambique with the exception of goods from South Africa.
2. In exchange, SACUM countries including Namibia committed to gradual tariff liberalisation of goods imported from the UK. Some domestically sensitive products (agricultural products and processed agricultural products) are excluded from tariff liberalisation.
3. The EPA provides Namibia with enhanced trade opportunities and economic benefits by deepening its integration into the global economy, particularly with the United Kingdom, a major trading partner and investor.

This EPA includes provisions on:

• Trade in goods - including provisions on preferential tariffs, tariff rate quotas and rules of origin
• Trade remedies, providing a safety net for domestic industry against unfair,  and resulting from subsidized or unexpected surges in imports of goods.
• Agricultural safeguard measures allowing SACU Members and Mozambique to impose higher import tariffs on specific products if the volume exceeds an agreed threshold (trigger import volume).
• Tariff Rate Quotas (TRQs) for SACU’s sensitive products that are derived from the EU-SADC EPA but have been tailored specifically to the UK.
• intellectual property, including geographical indications

How to claim preferential rates for your exports to the UK

To claim tariff preferences under the SACUM- UK EPA one has to meet two main criteria namely Rules of origin  and sanitary and phytosanitary conditions

Rules of origin.

1. Depending on the type of good you are seeking to export, in order to claim preferential treatment it will need to be either wholly obtained or sufficiently processed.
2. To be considered sufficiently processed your good will need to meet the relevant product specific rule (PSR). The PSRs for this agreement use the 2012 version of the Harmonised System (HS) nomenclature. You should apply the PSR for your good using the code in which it was classified under this nomenclature. World Customs Organization and the United Nations
3. Unless you are permitted to provide an origin declaration, you need to fill in a certificate of origin to claim preferential treatment.
4. See the list of minimal operations in Article 9 of the Rules of Origin Protocol in the UK-SACUM Economic Partnership Agreement text.

Sanitary and phytosanitary standards

1. These are measures to ensure that food is safe for consumers, and to prevent the spread of pests or diseases among animals and plants.
2. Find information on plant health controls and information on animal health controls for UK businesses trading with SACU Member States and Mozambique.

Tariff Rate Quotas (TRQs). framework:

The Agreement provides Tarriff rate Quota (TRQs) facility for diary and wheat products to be imported from UN into SACU at either a discounted rate or duty free into SACU market for sensitive products such as pig fat, butter, cheese, wheat, barlkey, cereal based food preparations and ice cream.

In Namibia, potential importers are allocated a share of the quota amount, on an annual basis, based on the following:

1. Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform (MAWLR) places a public notice in local newspapers calling for registered companies to apply for a quota.
2. MAWLR allocates quota amounts to individual applicants that qualify and issues TRQ permits.
3. TRQ information is forwarded to NamRA which uploads the information on the Customs system (ASYCUDA),
4. NamRA generates a quota code to the succesful companies to be used upon importation and requesting them to apply for a Rebate 460 before the importation of the products in question.
5. The ASYCUDA system automatically deducts the imported amount from the remaining allocation and grants the relevant duty preference, when importing

TRQs for imports into SACU included in the SACU+M- UK EPA