Front page

Communication and Meteorology

Energy

RETOSA

Transport

Water

TIPS ON THE SADC FTA

Twelve (12) SADC Member States (Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe) have to date ratified the SADC Protocol on Trade, while Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) will join the SADC Free Trade Area (FTA) at a later stage.

• The SADC Protocol on Trade was signed in 1996 and implementation of the SADC FTA began in 2000.
• The Trade Protocol allows for asymmetrical tariff reductions among SADC Member States.
• The SADC FTA requires strict observance of the "Rules of Origin" by Member States
• The "Rules of Origin" are the criteria used to define where a product originates in the Region.
• The SADC Region represents a cumulative Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$431 billion and a total market of 247 million people.