WT/REG450/M/1  
 
27 July 2022 
(22-5691) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements  
Hundred and Third  Session    
 
PREFERENTIAL TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN NAMIBIA AND ZIMBABWE  
(GOODS)  
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF  27 JUNE  2022 
Chairm an: Ambassador H.E. Mr. Taeho LEE (Republic of Korea ) 
1.1.  The 10 3rd Session of the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (hereinafter "CRTA" or the 
"Committee") was convened in Airgram WTO/AIR/RTA/ 28/Rev.1  dated 1 7 June 2022.  
1.2.  Under Agenda Item F.II of the Session, the CRTA considered the Preferential  Trade Agreement 
between Namibia and Zimbabwe , goods (hereinafter "the Agreement"). The Chairman  stated that 
the Factual Presentation had been prepared by the Secretariat on its own responsibility in full 
consultation with the Parties, in accordance with paragraph 7(b) of the Transparency Mechanism for 
Regional Trade Agreements (document WT/L/671).  
1.3.  The Chairman  indicated that the Agreement had entered into force on 30  April 1993. It had 
been notified to  the WTO by the Parties on 26 March 2021 under Article  XXIV:7(a) of the GATT  1994 
as constituting a reciprocal duty -free preferential trade agreement (document  WT/REG4 50/N/1). 
The text of the Agreement, together with its Annexes,  was available on the Parties' official websites 
and in the WTO RTAs datab ase. The Factual Presentation, documents  WT/REG450/1, and questions 
and replies, document WT/REG450/2, ha d been distributed.  
1.4.  The representative of Namibia  commended the Chair 's leadership and joined others in thanking 
him for the report as well as the Sec retariat for the comprehensive report. Namibia, being a member 
of SADC, shared a common vision with Zimbabwe about achieving the objectives of the 
SADC  Protocol on Trade in Goods and Services, which constituted the major  area of cooperation that 
support ed SADC's cause of economic development and poverty eradication. The Protocol had been 
extended to liberalize intra -regional trade by creating mutually beneficial trade arrangements 
thereby improving investment and productivity in the region. It advocated tha t members eliminate 
barriers to trade, ease customs procedures, and harmonize trade policies based on international 
standards and that prohibited unfair business practices. The Protocol set out institutional 
arrangements for implementation and contained an nexes detailing policies on rules of origin, 
customs cooperation, harmonization of trade documentation, transit facilities and trade 
development.  As indicated in the Factual Presentation, the Agreement had entered into force in 1993 
and had been amended in 2009. It was based on reciprocal duty -free preferential trade subject to 
rules of origin that required at least 25% local content for manufactured products wh ich included 
eligible goods such as agricultural products, minerals, fish and other marine products and industrial 
goods. Although the Agreement was still in force , traders had mostly preferred to use the SADC 
rules of origin that were wider in terms of th e scope of coverage. This was due to the structural 
reforms implemented since the SADC Protocol on Trade entered into force in 2001, including the 
Amended Protocols in 2007 and 2008 clarifying aspects of the rules of origin as well as safeguards 
and incorp orating new annexes on settlement of disputes and trade in sugar. Therefore , Namibia 
supported the Secretariat's Factual Presentation on the Agreement . He concluded by thanking 
Members that had expressed interest in the Agreement as well as specifically th e Republic of Mexico 
that had asked questions to which the Parties ha d responded. Namibia had committed to work with 
Zimbabwe in the implementation of the Agreement.  WT/REG450/M/1  
 
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  1.5.  The representative of Zimbabwe  expressed her delegation's gratitude to the Secretariat te am 
for the preparation of the Factual Presentation. She noted that the Transparency Mechanism for 
RTAs was importan t as it ke pt Members informed on developments relating to RTAs. In this regard, 
Zimbabwe  took the opportunity to present the Agreement to th e Committee, and it was its sincere  
hope that the process  would  help Members to better understand th e Agreement which cover ed trade 
in goods between Zimbabwe and Namibia.  She confirmed Namibia's statement  that the Parties were 
strong members within the SADC  and their trade was based in terms of a mutual  Agreement, signed 
in August 1992 and  in force since April 1993. The Agreement was very important to the two nations 
and reflect ed their excellent political and bilateral relations stemming from their common border and 
shared history. The Agreement had been amended i n 2009 to address issues that mainly relate d to 
rules of origin meant to accommodat e products manufactured using scrap and waste material. In 
general, the Agreement provide d for reciprocal duty-free market access, subject to rules of origin 
that require d at least 25% local content for manufactured products and that Zimbabwe and Namibia 
should , as exporters,  be the last place of substantial manufacturing.  The coming into force of the 
Agreemen t had resulted in a significant increase in trade between the Parties  from total trade of 
below USD  5 million in the 1990s to over USD  20 million in 2019. This ha d resulted in shared 
economic benefits for the Parties. Concluding, Zimbabwe looked forward to  implementing the 
Agreement that would benefit their exporters including their SMEs, which were exporting to the 
Namibian market and participating in  each others'  trade fairs, and vice -versa. The Joint Permanent 
Commission that had been established once th e Agreement had been signed had since been 
upgraded to a bi-national Commission which should give further impetus to their trade relations, 
since it had been changed  from being headed by Mini sters to Heads of  State . 
1.6.  The representative of the European Union  congratulated the Parties  on the conclusion of the 
Agreement and thanked the m for the transparency provided.  
1.7.  The representative of Canada  thanked Namibia and Zimbabwe for the transparency displayed 
in this exercise.  
1.8.  The representative of the United States  thanked Namibia and Zimbabwe for their very 
informative presentation. Her delegation appreciated the context in  which  the Agreement had 
evolved over time. More broadly , for a Member , having Factual Presentations for agreements such 
as this one, for which  they would not nece ssarily know the details, was tremendously helpful. She 
also believed  that Members benefitted when the Parties provided  details about the Agreement .   
1.9.  The Chairman  noted the consideration of the Pre ferential Trade Agreement between Namibia 
and Zimbabwe had allowed the Committee to clarify a number of questions and conclude oral 
discussion of the RTA in accordance with paragraph 11 of the Transparency Mechanism. Any 
delegations wishing to ask follow -up questions were invited to forward submissions in writing to the 
Secretariat by 4 July 2022 and the Parties were asked to submit replies in writing by no later than 
18 July 2022. In accordance with paragraph 13 of the Transparency Mechanism all written 
submissions, as well as the minutes of the meeting would be circulated promptly, in all WTO official 
languages, and made available on the WTO website.  
1.10.  The Committee took note  of the comments made.  
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