PRESS RELEASE 
EMBARGO  
NOT FOR PUBLICATION, OR DISTRIBUTION BY NEWS AGENCIES UNTIL 
1400 GENEVA TIME ( 1300  GMT) 4 NOVEMBER 2009  
 
PRESS/TPRB/322 
4 November 2009 
 
(09-5459) 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW: SOUTHERN AFRICAN CUSTOMS UNION (SACU) 
Deeper integration is necessary for more balanced development 
Since the previous review in 2003, SACU members (Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and 
Swaziland), have collectively expanded at an av erage annual rate of about 4% in real terms, 
although this GDP growth has been somewhat erratic mainly reflecting infrastructure and other 
constraints, according to a WTO Secretariat repo rt on the trade policies and practices of SACU. 
 
The five member states of this Customs Union conti nue to show substantial differences in levels of 
economic development and, so far, the only trade policy instruments harmonized are the applied customs tariff, excise duties, duty rebates, refunds and drawbacks, customs valuation, non-
preferential rules of origin, and contingency trade remedies. 
 The report notes that the complete implementa tion of the 2002 SACU Agreement, which entered 
into force in July 2004, would result in furthe r harmonization of policies, deeper economic 
integration and more balanced development that now seem elusive.  
While noting that South African economy, the biggest and most advanced of the Union, remains 
relatively diversified, the report also says that the principal policy imperative faced by the other SACU countries remains diversification away from the current key export products (diamonds and 
other minerals in Botswana and Namibia, textiles in Lesotho and sugar in Swaziland). 
 The report, along with policy statements by th e Governments of the Southern African Customs 
Union (SACU), will be the basis for the third Trad e Policy Review (TPR) of SACU by the Trade Policy 
Review Body of the WTO on 4 and 6 November 2009. 
 
The following documents are available in MS Wo rd format on the WTO web-site. They can be 
downloaded at http://www.wto.org/english/ tratop_e/tpr_e/tp322_e.htm  
• Secretariat reports 
> Contents and summary observations  
> Economic environment  > Trade and investment regimes  
> Trade policies and practices by measure  
> Trade policies by sector  > Appendix tables  PRESS/TPRB/322 
Page 2 of 2 
 
 
 • Report by the Governments of the Southern African Customs Union 
• Chairperson’s concluding remarks  
• Minutes of the meeting (available appr oximately six weeks after the meeting). 
Note 
Trade Policy Reviews are an exercise, mandated in the WTO Agreement, in which member 
countries’ trade and related policies are examined and evaluated at regular intervals. Significant 
developments that may have an impact on the global trading system are also monitored. For each 
review, two documents are prepared: a policy stat ement by the government of the member under 
review, and a detailed report written independently by the WTO Secretariat. These two documents are then discussed by the WTO’s full membership in  the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB). These 
documents and the proceedings of the TPRB’s meetings are published shortly afterwards.  
 Print copies of the TPR publications are available for sale from the WTO Secretariat, Centre William 
Rappard, 154 rue de Lausanne, 1211 Genève 21 and through the on-line bookshop at 
http://onlinebookshop.wto.org/shop/articles.asp?Id_Rayon=38
 
or follow this path :  
www.wto.org >resources > publications > trade policy reviews  
 The TPR publications are also available from our co-publisher Bernan  
Press, 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, MD 20706-4346, United  
States. Please call 1-800-865-3457 or e-mail: customercare@bernan.com.” 
Next reviews: 
Niger/Senegal: 11 and 13 November 2009 
Georgia: 8 and 10 December 2009 
 
For a full list of previous trade policy reviews and the full programme of future reviews go to 
http://www.wto.org/english/trat op_e/tpr_e/tpr_ e.htm#reviews 
or follow this path : www.wto.org > trade topics > trade policy reviews 
 
  
END