SA criticised on regional trade

Nations in Southern Africa have said South Africa had to do more to open up its markets to goods from the region and help stop delays in signing a new Southern African Customs Union (SACU) agreement aimed at reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers over a period of eight years. Reports carried this week in 'The Namibian' and a Zimbabwe newspaper, 'The Insider', said the SACU customs agreement should have been signed last month. Between January and November last year, Zimbabwe reportedly imported five times what it exported to South Africa. The reports said South Africa, the regional economic giant, had been reluctant to open up its markets. The SACU countries are South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Botswana, Swaziland and Namibia.