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ESWATINI NOT HASN'T RATIFIED NEW TRADE AGREEMENT – UK PARLY

25/10/2020 14:22:00 Mfanukhona Nkambule

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MBABANE – Parliament in UK says Eswatini has not yet ratified SACUM-UK EPAS, which are effective in January 2021.

SACUM stands for Southern African Customs Union Member States while EPAS mean Economic Partnership Agreements. According to Volume 806 (Hansard) dated October 13, 2020, the politicians in the United Kingdom said they wished to see good progress. “However, in regard to the SACUM EPA, which he referenced, of South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Eswatini, Lesotho and Mozambique, only South Africa and Botswana have ratified; the others have yet to ratify,” reads the Hansard in the possession of this newspaper.

“There is a mixed situation on the Eastern and Southern Africa EPA, with Mauritius, Seychelles, Zimbabwe, Madagascar and Comoros. They are eligible to join the EPA but have not yet joined; therefore, it has not been agreed with us.” Under UK domestic law, before a treaty subject to ratification (as the SACUM-UK EPA is) may be ratified, it must be tabled in Parliament for scrutiny under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act (CRAG) of 2010.

Article 24 provides: “Products originating in Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique and Namibia shall be imported into the UK in accordance with the duty-free quota-free treatment set out for those countries in ANNEX I.2. Products originating in South Africa shall be imported into the UK in accordance with the treatment set out for South Africa in ANNEX I.”
In the SACU member states (with the exception of Botswana the national parliaments must approve new treaties before the executive branch of government can deposit instruments of ratification.

Senator Manqoba Khumalo, the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade, said it was true that the SACUM-UK EPAs had not been ratified. He assured that they would be ratified soon. He said they had been conducting workshops for the past two weeks, sensitising parliamentarians in both Senate and House of Assembly about them.