Namibia is a member of the following international trade organisations:
AFRICA GROWTH AND OPPORTUNITY ACT (AGOA)
AGOA was signed into law in May 2000. It provides duty-free and quota-free access to United States markets for all products (excluding products from the textile and apparel markets) that originate from eligible beneficiary Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. Namibia was designated as eligible for AGOA benefits and has been certified for the textile and apparel benefits after establishing the required visa system.
NAMIBIA/ZIMBABWE PREFERENTIAL TRADE AGREEMENT
This agreement, governed by rules of origin, came into force on 17 August 1992. Goods grown, produced or manufactured in Namibia may be imported into Zimbabwe free of customs duty, and vice versa, if they are wholly produced/obtained in the country of origin. For Namibian exports to qualify for such preferential treatment, registration with the Ministry of Finance is required. A certificate of origin must accompany the goods and they must be transported directly without passing through a third country’s commercial zone.
SOUTHERN AFRICAN CUSTOMS UNION (SACU)
Namibia became a member of SACU in 1990. The other members are Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and South Africa. In terms of the SACU agreement there is free movement of goods among the members. Article 2 of the agreement prevents members from imposing duties or quantitative restrictions on goods grown, produced or manufactured in the common customs area. Duties are levied on goods upon entry into the common customs area, but once inside it, no further duties are charged.
SACU-EFTA FREE TRADE AGREEMENT
This agreement was concluded in 2004.
SACU-MERCOSUR PREFERENTIAL TRADE AGREEMENT
This agreement was signed in December 2004 and renewed/revised in 2008 but has not yet been ratified by all the member states. Botswana has ratified, and the PTA has been introduced in Namibian Parliament in late 2011
SACU-USA TRADE, INVESTMENT AND DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION AGREEMENT
This agreement was concluded in 2008.
WORLD TRADE ORGANISATION (WTO)
The WTO serves as a forum for trade negotiations and the settlement of trade disputes among nations. WTO rules on international trade are contained in three main legal instruments: the general agreements on tariffs and trade (GATT), the general agreement on trade in services (GATS) and the agreement on traderelated
aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS).
SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY (SADC)
The ultimate objective of the SADC is the creation of an integrated regional economic block. Member states are: Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In the past Namibia was responsible for coordinating marine fisheries and resources but since the restructuring of the SADC Secretariat these responsibilities are now centralised. A Free Trade Area was established in 2008, but some members are not yet part of it.
SADC PROTOCOL ON TRADE
Namibia is a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). This agreement was concluded in 1999.
SADC ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT (EPA)
In June 2016, six SADC member countries – Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland – signed an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union. EPA guarantees access to the EU market without any duties or quotas for Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, and Swaziland. The new access includes better trading terms mainly in agriculture and fisheries, including for wine, sugar, fisheries products, flowers and canned fruits. The EU wil l obtain meaningful new market access into Southern African Customs Union (products include wheat, barley, cheese, meat products and butter), and will have the security of a bilateral agreement with Mozambique, one of the LDCs in the region.
COTONOU AGREEMENT
Namibia forms part of the African, Caribbean and Pacific–European Union (ACP–EU) trade agreement, granting non-reciprocal preferential access to some of the ACP products into the EU market. This includes tariff preferences as well as specific arrangements regarding protocols for beef, veal, rum and bananas, whereby ACP countries are granted preferential treatment based on quotas. From the Namibian perspective, this concerns the export of an annual quota for the export of boneless beef and veal of about 13 000 tones has been granted.