Trade talks flounder

Trade ministers of the 14-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) meeting in Gaborone, Botswana this week, failed to agree on free trade schedules and the tightening of rules of origin of goods being traded within the region, news reports said. The disagreement, according to the reports, related first to the proposed eight-year period within which tariffs should be reduced. Members of the five-nation Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU) were reportedly in favour of the eight-year period while the less industrialised non-SACU members wanted the process stretched over 10 to 15 years. SACU comprises South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Swaziland and Namibia. The trade ministers also failed to agree on the tightening of rules of origin of goods to be covered by tariff reductions in the region. South Africa, in conjunction with its SACU partners, insists that there has to be proven local raw material content in goods that qualify for a reduction in trade tariffs. This, according to trade analysts, is meant to protect local industries from dumping by foreign operators. Another meeting is scheduled for next month in South Africa to clear the way for the abolition of trade tariffs on at least 60 percent of goods traded between member states from January next year. The region plans to have a free trade protocol in place by 2004. At the same time, Zimbabwe and South African trade ministers have resumed bilateral talks to improve the access of some imbwabwean goods to the South African market. Zimbabwe reportedly imports goods from South Africa worth about US $325 million, while Zimbabwe's exports to South Africa are estimated at US $75 million, a situation Zimbabwe has been trying to amend since the 1964 bilateral trade agreement expired in 1992. The talks had also been bogged down by disagreements following South Africa's insistence on tightening rules of origin of goods being traded between the two neighbours. South Africa, however, is reported to have softened its stance relating to trade with Zimbabwe, paving the way for an agreement to be reached between the trade ministers of the two countries.