WT/COMTD/RTA11/M/1  
5 November  2020 
(20-7894) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Trade and Development  
11th Dedicated Session on Regional Trade Agreements   
 
  
PREFERENTIAL TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE SOUTHERN COMMON MARKET 
(MERCOSUR) AND THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN CUSTOMS UNION (SACU) (GOODS)  
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 2 9 SEPTEMBER  2020 
Chairman: H.E. Mr. Mohammad Qurban Haqjo (Afghanistan)  
1.  The 11th Dedicated Session on Regiona l Trade Agreements (RTAs) of the Committee on 
Trade  and Development (CTD) was convened in document  WTO/AIR/COMTD/RTA/6/Rev.2 of 
18 September 2020.  The meeting allowed for both in -person and virtual participation. Under 
item B (II) of the agenda , the Committee considered the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) 
between the Souther n Common Market (MERCOSUR) and t he Southern African Customs Union 
(SACU) (Goods) (WT/COMTD/RTA11/N/1, WT/COMTD/RTA11/1, WT/COMTD/RTA11/2 ). The 
present docume nt contains the minutes relating to the consideration of this agreement.1 
2.  The Chairman  said that the PTA between MERCOSUR and the SACU  was notified under 
paragraph 4(a) of the Enabling Clause on 19 July 2017. The notification was originally circulated 
on 20 July  2017 in document WT/COMTD/N/55 . It was  then re -circulated on 1 November 2019 in 
document WT/COMTD/RTA11/N/1,  in accordance with the new symbols for notifications and 
subsequent documentation relating to RTAs agreed to by the CTD at its 108th Regular Session on 
5 April 2019. The factual presentation on the  agreement – contained in document 
WT/COMTD/RTA11/1 dated  7 November 2019 – had been prepared by the Secretariat on its own 
responsibility, and in full consultation with the parties. Written questions from Ecuador, as well as 
the replies from the parties, had been  circulated in document WT/COMTD/RTA11/2.  
3.  The representative of Uruguay , on behalf of the MERCOSUR  member States – Argentina, Brazil 
Paraguay and Uruguay – said that the MERCOSUR -SACU PTA represented  a step towards 
strengthening economic and trade relations between the parties. The objective was  to promote 
bilateral trade flows by means of mutual concessions, t ariff preferences and other agreed 
conditions. Based on  2017 trade data, the MERCOSUR member S tates collectively were 
SACU's  9th largest source of imports and the 27th largest destination f or exports . The SACU 
member S tates were collectively MERCOSUR's 33rd largest source of imports  and destination for 
exports. The agreement envisaged  preferential tariff access for a certain number of products from 
each party. It also provided  a framework fo r strengthening cooperation  in areas such as animal 
health ; plant protection ; standards ; technical regulations and  conformity assessment ; food safety ; 
and mutual recognition of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures. In addition, the agreement 
contained  provisions on rules of origin, safeguard measures, dispute settlement procedures, and 
customs cooperation. The parties looked for ward to responding t o any further questi ons or 
comments  from Members .  
4.  The representative of South Africa , on behalf of the SACU  member States – Botswana , 
Eswatini,  Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa – expressed appreciation for the  factual presentation , 
which she believed provided  a good overview of the MERCOSUR -SACU PTA, and  the 
parties ' aspirations. She said that, a s a customs union , a unified engageme nt in trade negotiations  
was one of SACUs' priorities . This was  in line with article 31 of the SACU agreement  of 2002, which 
mandated SACU  member S tates to collectively negotiate trad e agreements with third parties, and 
which established a Common Negotiating Mechanism.  The SACU -MERCOSUR PTA was the second 
 
1 The general minutes of the CTD's 11th Dedicated Session on RTAs are contained in document 
WT/COMTD/RTA/M/11.  WT/COMTD/RTA11/M/1  
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  bilateral agreement to be completed under this provision  – the first being the agreement with the 
European Free Trade Area  (EFTA) , which was reviewed by the Committee on Regional  
Trade  Agreements (CRTA) in March 2010. The guiding principle s in negotiating  these  RTAs were 
consistent with GATT  provisions.  One of SACU's  key objectives was  to enhance trade among its 
member S tates, as well as to integrate SACU's economies i nto the global trading system. In this 
regard, the  MERCOSUR -SACU PTA was important and beneficial for the economi c integration of 
SACU's member S tates into the global economy. The agre ement came into force on 1  April 2016, 
with the ultimate objective of promoting  trade between MERCOSUR and SACU. In the spirit of 
South -South cooperation, the parties  enjoy ed enhanced trade relations, based on mutual beneficial 
interest, an d reciprocity. The agreement had  established fixed preference  margins as a first step to 
enhancing  trade between the  parties. In addition to tariff liberalizati on commitments, the parties 
had committed to addres s non -tariff measures that applied to the products that had  been offered 
preferences under the agreement . The parties  had also undertaken to develop instruments relating 
to customs operations, so as  to promote cooperation between  customs administrations. 
Furthermore, they had agreed to strengthen  cooperation on animal and plant health ; standards ; 
technical regulations and conformity assessment ; food safety ; and mutual recognition of SPS 
measures.  This cooperation included the exchange of information on contact p oints responsible  for 
the implementation of the a greement in various areas.  
5.  She went on to say that agreement contained  the main text and seven annexes. The mai n text 
set out the principles, legal provisions and procedur es for the relations under the agreement. It 
also established  a Joint A dministration Committee to m anage the administration of the  agreement. 
Annexes 1 and 2 contained  MERCOSUR and SACU's respecti ve tariff concessions, while Annexes 3, 
4, 5, 6, and 7 cover ed general rules of origin ; trade remedies ; disput e settlement ; SPS measures ; 
and cooperation on customs administration. In May 2017, the parties organized the inaugural 
meeting of the Joint Administration C ommittee. T he agreement was now fully  operation al. In 
terms of trade, SACU's overall exports to MER COSUR had been fluctuating. With over  
USD 591.9  million recorded in 2016, export values had increased to USD 635.5 million and  USD 
702.6 million dollars respectively in 2017 and 2018 , before falling to  USD 593.2 million in 2019. 
Regarding  import values, SACU’s imports from MERCOSUR amounted to USD  2.4 billion dollars in 
2016, and declined to  USD 1.8 billion in 2019. In closing, she indicated the parties’ willingness to 
provide responses  to any further questions received from Members.  
6.  The r epresentative of Botswana  supported the intervention by South Africa. He welcomed the 
questions received from Ecuador, and request ed Members to submit any additional questions in 
writing, so tha t they could  be transmitted to  capitals for responses.  
7.  The re presentative of the European Union  expressed her delegation’s appreciation to the 
parties for the transparency provided.  
8.  The representative of the United States  thanked the parties for their participation in the 
transparency exercise .  
9.  The representative of Eswatini  expressed support for t he intervention by South Africa, and 
indicated the parties’ willingness to provide responses to any further questions that were 
submitted.  
10.  The representative of Namibia expressed her  delegation ’s support for  the intervention by 
South Africa. The MERCOSUR -SACU  PTA provided  market access  opportunities  for the parties, and 
particularly for the smaller economies , by a ddressing trade restrictive practices and removing  
non-tariff measures. In addition, the agreement provided  opportunities in the area  of trade 
facilitation , and aimed at promoting cooperation among c ustoms authorities. The factual 
presentation prepared by the Secretariat was a true reflection of the parties’ aspirations.2  
11.  The Chairman  said that oral discussion of the PTA between MERCOSUR and SACU could be 
concluded in accordance with paragraph 11 of the Transparency  Mechanism  for RTAs (RTA TM) . 
Follow-up questions  by Members would need to be submitted in writing to the Secretariat within 
one week, by  6 October 2020. The parties would then  be given two weeks to submit written 
 
2 Due to technical problems, the representative of Namibia was unable deliver this intervention 
remotely, as was intended. The intervention is ref lected in the minutes of this meeting at the request of the 
delegation of Namibia.  WT/COMTD/RTA11/M/1  
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  replies, by no later than 20 October 2020. In accord ance with paragraph 13 of the RTA TM , all 
written submissions as well as the minutes of the present meeting would  be circulated promptly in 
all WTO official languages, and would  be made available on the WTO website.  
12.  The Committee took note  of all intervent ions. 
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