Joint Communique of the
SIXTH MEETING OF THE EU-SADC EPA TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
19-20 February 2020, Brussels
Senior officials from six countries (Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa) of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the European Union held the 6th meeting of the Trade and Development Committee (TDC) under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) on 19-20 February in Brussels.
European Union support mechanisms and opportunities for exporters – 16 October 2019
Time: 14h00 – 15h00
Venue: Durban ICC
Facilitator: Ms. Donnée Kruger – Trade and Invest Manager: Gauteng Office (TIKZN)
Speakers: Mr. Roberto Cecutti, Head of the Trade and Economic Section, Delegation of the European Union (EU) to South Africa
Ms. Lauralyn Kaziboni, Economist, DNA Economics
Presentations:
191010 EPA presentation for KZN CLEAN (PPTX, 2.3MB)
The broiler industry is the largest sub-sectoral contributor to the value of agricultural production in South Africa and chicken is by far the most widely consumed form of meat. The industry has been the subject of heated debate and significant policy intervention over the last few years. On the one hand, local producers argue that unfair competition from imports is harming the industry and has led to substantial production and job losses. They have been successful in obtaining tariff duty protection. On the other hand, traders and retailers point to what they see as limited domestic supply capacity, inefficiency leading to lack of competitiveness and the poor quality of locally produced chicken. They argue that the main reason for the industry’s requests for tariffs is to increase profits at the expense of low-income consumers.
The objectives of this study, commissioned for the "EU-SA Partners for Growth Project" funded by the EU, are:
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Presentation: Broiler Study – AFASA 8 October 2019 (PPTX, 200KB)
Growing business between SA and EU for Sustainable trade under the EU-SADC EPA, opportunities for business.
The Delegation of the European Union and African Farmers Association of South Africa hosted the Organic, Fair & Ethical Trade Event on 19 February 2019 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre in Cape Town.
The event was attended by more than 140 participants and was a great success, thanks to the quality and engagement of the participants as well as useful presentations and the direction provided by the keynote addresses.
Highlights from the event (PDF, 800KB) Discussion Paper (PDF. 770KB)
From March to November 2018, a research project was conducted, which focused on and was titled “Contribution of European Union Investments to Inclusive Growth in South Africa in South Africa”. The study, fully funded by the SA-EU Dialogue Facility and implemented at the initiative of the Black Management Forum (BMF) with an endorsement from the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti), comprised of a combination of company surveys, evaluation of publicly available B-BBEE Scorecard and Employment Equity Report data, deep dive workshops and a concluding panel discussion in the context of the BMF Annual Conference, 11 October 2018.
Download the pamphlet (PDF, 1.7MB) Download the report (PDF, 3.88MB)
A delegation of members representing the International Trade (INTA) Committee of the European Parliament, the committee responsible for giving consent to the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) between the European Union and partner countries and for monitoring the EPA, undertook a working-visit to South Africa from 29 – 31 October. The visit partly coincided with a parallel visit of the European Parliament Delegation for Relations with South Africa, which culminated in the 26th SA-EU Inter-Parliamentary meeting in Cape Town.
The visit of the INTA delegation, led by Marietje Schaake, offered an ideal opportunity to assess the implementation of the SADC EPA and its contribution to sustainable and inclusive growth in the country, in particular ahead of the Presidential Summit held in Brussels on 15 November.
Good to discuss with Minister Gordhan how he is tackling state capture, and how the EU can be a stronger partner to South-Africa. The ‘whistle blowing box’ by the elevator said a lot too ↘️ (deleted previous tweet after accidentally linking to a parody account) pic.twitter.com/YJ10Kyw1AP
— Marietje Schaake (@MarietjeSchaake) October 29, 2018
Minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan
29 October, Department of Public Enterprise
The INTA delegation kicked-off their visit to South Africa with a high-level meeting with Minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan. The Minister provided a good account of the efforts to bring back stability to State Owned Enterprises (SOEs), through handling the past, reforming management and looking at future models.
The meeting further focused on issues of mutual interest, specifically relating to public procurement and localisation policy; and how the Department is tackling state capture.
Exactly 100 years after the birth of Nelson Mandela, the 15th of November saw the EU-South Africa summit taking place in Brussels. South Africa is one of the European Union's ten Strategic Partners. Hence the summit represented a unique opportunity to build on Mandela's legacy and to assess the state of play of the whole range of issues under the EU-South Africa Strategic Partnership.
For more information about the event click here
July 13, 2018 Gaborone, Botswana:
The Republic of Namibia will from 30th July -1 August, 2018 host the third SADC Industrialisation Week (SIW) at Safari Court Hotel and Conference Centre in Windhoek under the theme; Promoting Infrastructure and Youth Empowerment for Sustainable Development.
The SADC Industrialisation Week is a public-private engagement platform that helps to foster new opportunities for intra-African trade and investment in the southern African region.
The EU will be presenting and we hope to see you all soon.
Downloads:
Download the invitation...
Download the draft programme...
Some background documents:
http://www.saiia.org.za/occasional-papers/the-sadc-epa-opportunities-in-the-agro-processing-sectors-of-south-africa-and-lesotho
http://www.saiia.org.za/value-chains-in-southern-africa
https://www.competition.org.za/regional-value-chains/
https://www.tralac.org/news/article/12580-the-role-of-trade-policies-in-building-regional-value-chains-some-preliminary-evidence-from-africa.html
The SADC-EU EPA includes a bilateral protocol on the protection of Geographical Indications (GIs).
The EU gets protection for 251 GIs including 120 wines. South Africa gets protection for 105 GI names: 102 wine names and three agricultural product names — Rooibos tea, Karoo lamb and Honeybush tea. South Africa can add 30 agricultural product names in the future.
Workshop on the protection and promotion of Geographical Indications
20 November 2017, Cape Town
International regulatory framework and enforcement of GIs
- Gis in SA Overview of the Landscape – Marumo Nkomo, Department of Trade and Industry of South Africa (PDF, 700KB)
- GIs in the EU: Value, legal framework and enforcement – Cristina Miranda Gozálvez (PDF, 1.5MB )
- GIs protection the Italian and international perspective – Elio De Tullio, Italian Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry (PDF, 1.8MB)
GIs contribution to economic growth and rural development
- GIs contribution to economic growth and rural development – Filippo Arfini, University of Parma (PDF, 1.7MB)
- Introducing South Africa’s iconic meat product Karoo Lamb – Johann Kirsten, Director, Bureau for Economic Research, Stellenbosch University (PDF, 2MB)
- GI contributing to economic growth and rural development – Dr Dirk Troskie, Western Cape Department of Agriculture (PDF, 2.8MB )
Developing strategies to add value and promote GIs
- The promotion of GIs in International Trade – Denan Kuni, Wesgro (PDF, 1.4MB)
- Developing strategies for adding value and promotion of GIs – Giampiero Perna, Consorzio Tutela Mozzarella di Bufala Campana (PDF, 1.55MB)
- Developing strategies to add value and promote GIs – Jonathan Steyn, Graduate School of Business (PDF, 2.7MB)
Closing remarks
Press Release
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