Luanda - The access to products from countries that are already part of the SADC Free Trade Area (FTA) in the Angolan market is among the main topics that dominate the Forum dedicated to Angola's accession to the Protocol on Trade Exchanges of the Southern African Development Community, which takes place in Luanda.
Angola's chief negotiator in the SADC Free Trade Zone, Videira Pedro, said that the country will receive the list of priority products for the national market, with emphasis on category A goods.
Sources point out that, among the countries seeking to send their products to the Angolan market, within the scope of the FTA is Botswana, which is interested in selling beef to Angola and South Africa. Namibia stands out in the segment of selling fruit, but also has a great interest in selling meat.
“With these, we will try to reconcile all the requests, to see how fast we can have it all set”, he said.
Speaking to the press, he added that, at the moment, negotiations are continuing on the proposed revised offer from Angola delivered a year ago to the SADC secretariat and from some countries that want, immediately, to have access to the Angolan market for certain relevant products.
Regarding Angola's accession to the Free Trade Zone, Angola's commercial attaché in South Africa reiterated that negotiations continue, with a process that is already at the “gateway”, with the presentation of its proposed offer.
He also clarified that the country made some counter-proposal regarding the requests made by member countries, a fact that will require Angola to make the initial tariff offer more flexible.
With this, he added that, by next year, Angola will be able to submit its instruments of accession to the FTA, which, among several advantages, include the affordable prices of imported products, as they will be exempt from customs duties, in addition to intensifying commercial exchanges between companies from different countries.
With full adherence to the region's trade protocol, Angola will have expanded access to the community's markets, benefiting from exemptions or reductions in customs tariffs, simplification of rules of origin, among other commercial advantages, in addition to guaranteeing competition in equal footing with other members.
The Forum dedicated to Angola's accession to the Protocol on Trade Exchanges of the Southern African Development Community takes place from the 7th to the 11th of this month, in Luanda, promoted by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.
The event aims to discuss the country's adherence to this Protocol, focusing on the implementation of a revised tariff offer proposal, serving as a technical platform to analyze and debate crucial issues for regional integration, covering trade in goods and services among SADC member countries.
The forum follows a series of negotiations that align Angola's position with the results of the 58th Meeting of the SADC Trade Negotiations Forum, held in Johannesburg, South Africa, between the 23rd and 25th of current year's May.
In force since 2008, the Free Trade Area includes 13 of the organization's 16 active members, in the context of commercial transactions. Angola, Comoros and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have not yet fully implemented the Protocol.
In March 2023, an Angolan technical team participated in a session of the SADC Executive Secretariat, in which the steps towards the country's effective membership were discussed.
The process of consolidating this Trade Zone initially foresees the inclusion of countries that are not yet full members, such as Angola, which is one of the largest markets in the Southern Region, with the potential to strengthen intra-regional trade and boost its economy, according to the director of Industrial Development and Trade at the SADC Secretariat, Dhunraj Kassee.
SADC is a Regional Economic Community made up of 16 Member States, namely Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, eSwatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, United Republic Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
This economic bloc's mission is to promote sustainable and equitable economic growth, as well as socioeconomic development, through efficient production systems, deeper cooperation and integration, good governance, lasting peace and security.
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