policy-briefing-97-f0c010b632f3fc39.pdf

This 2014 policy briefing outlines a path to finalize the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). It identifies four critical obstacles: export taxes, the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) clause, agricultural safeguards, and rules of origin. The author argues that the EU should drop demands for export tax bans, adopt a percentage-based MFN clause, allow for immediate agricultural safeguards, and provide technical and financial support for the implementation of rules of origin to ensure the agreement's success and political viability.

• The European Union (EU) and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries were scheduled to end negotiations on economic partnership agreements (EPAs) on 1 October 2014. Failure to reach an agreement would result in Botswana, Namibia, and Swaziland losing duty-free access to the EU market, although South Africa, Angola, Mozambique, and Lesotho would maintain access under other existing agreements.
• The EU has demanded a ban on export taxes for South Africa and Angola, and for most other SADC EPA countries. The document argues the EU should abandon this demand because export taxes are unlikely to significantly harm the EU market since commodity prices are set globally, and such bans infringe upon the sovereign decision-making of African states.
• The Most Favoured Nation (MFN) clause is contentious because African states fear it undermines South–South co-operation and limits their ability to form future free trade agreements with third parties like Brazil, India, and China. A proposed compromise is to change the clause from a line-by-line calibration to one requiring African states to match the overall percentage of tariff lines liberalised in other deals.
• SADC EPA states argue that existing agricultural safeguards are too slow to implement due to a 30-day notification period. The document suggests that safeguards should come into force immediately and remain active until proven unnecessary, noting that the EU itself maintained 539 special agricultural safeguards at the WTO and provided approximately $78.8 billion (EUR 357.5 billion) in support of agricultural firms in 2013.
• While rules of origin are not highly contentious due to allowances for cumulation with other ACP or neighbouring states, their technical complexity poses an implementation risk. The document recommends providing finance to upskill customs agencies, establishing one-stop offices in trade hubs, and providing trade finance for first-time exporters to overcome high initial costs.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (n.d.). policy-briefing-97-f0c010b632f3fc39.pdf. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Policy-Briefing-97.pdf

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. policy-briefing-97-f0c010b632f3fc39.pdf. n.d. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Policy-Briefing-97.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=policy-briefing-97-f0c010b632f3fc39.pdf |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Policy-Briefing-97.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairsndpolicybriefing97f0c010b632f3fc39pdf, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{policy-briefing-97-f0c010b632f3fc39.pdf}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Policy-Briefing-97.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }