ISDS Case Map
Namibia
Market researcher at Meatco, Wallie Roux, yesterday criticized the European Union's haste to have the Southern African Development Community-Economic Partnership Agreement (SADC-EPA) signed by the end of the year. "This is the biggest successful public relations stunt pulled by the EU," he observed.
Civil society organisations and the business community in southern Africa have called for review of trade policies in order to deepen regional integration.
Namibia's Minister of Trade and Industry has been instructed by Cabinet to table a trade agreement between southern Africa and the European Union in the National Assembly for ratification.
Namibia and Zambia have signed two agreements -- one on political consultation between their foreign affairs ministries and another on the establishment of a dry port facility at Walvis Bay.
The Namibian Manufacturers' Association (NMA) has spoken out against competition issues and unfair trade practices in the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu).
The deadline is looming for the day when the preferential treatment that Namibia has enjoyed for its beef, lamb and table grape exports to the European Union ends on January 1 2008.
An economic cooperation agreement between the Angolan and Namibian governments, aimed at the promotion and development of trade relations between both countries in this field, was recently published.
The issue of trade visas, transfer pricing of goods and the long outstanding issue of the Bilateral Investment Agreement between Namibia and Angola are some of the challenges facing businesses in the country.
Negotiators in the expected Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) with European Union (EU) will have to stand their ground if they are to give Namibia a better deal from the EU, -more especially if they do not want to give the country a replica of the Free Trade Area (FTA) component, to which the country is already subjected, under the Trade Development and Cooperation Agreement (TDCA) that the EU has with South Africa.
The fourth round of negotiations between the Southern African Customs Union and the US took place this weekend in Walvis Bay, Namibia.
