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About the Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and SADC EPA States
The EU-SADC EPA is a development-oriented free trade agreement between the EU and six Parties from the Southern African Development Community (SADC): Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa. It was signed on 10 June 2016 and has been provisionally applied since 10 October 2016, except for Mozambique, for which provisional application started on 4 February 2018 (Mozambique started liberalising in 2019).
Under the Agreement, all SADC EPA States, except South Africa, receive duty free and quota free access for all their goods (except arms and ammunition) to the EU market. The EU has also fully or partially removed customs duties on 98.7% of imports coming from South Africa (in terms of trade volume). Members of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) - i.e. SADC EPA States except Mozambique - fully or partially remove tariffs on about 86% of imports from the EU. Certain sensitive products such as motor vehicles for the transport of goods, and petroleum oils are excluded from liberalisation. As a Least Developed Country (LDC), Mozambique liberalises a smaller percentage of imports from the EU (74% in terms of trade volume). Liberalisation of services trade and investment may be negotiated in the future.
About the evaluation of the EPA
After several years of implementation, an evaluation study will analyse the economic, social, human rights (including labour rights) and environmental impacts of the implementation of the EU-SADC EPA.
The evaluation is undertaken by BKP Economic Advisors, a German-based economic research and consulting firm, in cooperation with European and African researchers. Work started in March 2023 and will continue over 14 months. On this website we will inform you about the progress of the evaluation, including consultations with stakeholders, as well as publish all reports produced (inception, interim, and final report).