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South Africa is a signatory to the EU-African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Cotonou Agreement, but benefits from only a limited form of membership. Instead, as part of efforts to support the process of political change and transition in South Africa following the abolition of the Apartheid system, the EU and South Africa signed a Trade, Development and Co-operation Agreement (TDCA) in October 1999. This Agreement is designed to promote the development of close relations between the two parties, the expansion and reciprocal liberalisation of trade and the strengthening of co-operation.
The trade provisions of the TDCA came into provisional effect on 1 January 2000 and after ratification by all parties, the Agreement entered fully into force on 1 May 2004, including those provisions that were not provisionally applied. The introduction of the RTA is asymmetrical in that the EU is opening its market faster (over a period of ten years) and to more products than South Africa (over a 12-year transitional period in accordance with WTO rules). The EU will provide duty free access for about 99% of South African industrial products and about 75% of its agricultural products, with most EU liberalisation completed. The Agreement also contains provisions on services, government procurement, intellectual property and competition policy.
The EU and South Africa also concluded negotiations on related wines and spirits agreements in July 2001. These agreements will help to facilitate and promote trade in wines and spirits between the two sides. As part of the wine agreement, the EU will provide a duty free quota for imports of South African wine, which will be increased by 5% each year until 2011.
The Agreement has given a significant boost to UK trade with South Africa. The total value of trade in goods between the two countries has risen from £2,869 million in 1999 to £4,809 million in 2003. More information on the EU-South Africa relationship can be found on the European Commission's external relations website pages (see external links on right).
Please note that if you are looking for help with exporting from the UK to South Africa you should contact UK Trade and Investment, the Government's advice service to exporters and inward investors (see related links on right hand side).
For all queries about the EU-South Africa Agreement please contact Miranda Dawkins
e-mail: miranda.dawkins@bis.gsi.gov.uk
