Niki Krüger (left) and Lars Erik Nordgaard.
The Southern African Customs Union consists of Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa with whom EFTA signed a free trade agreement in 2006 which the two trade blocks now seek to update and expand.
The SACU delegation was headed by Niki Krüger, Chief-Director at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, South Africa, while Lars Erik Nordgaard, Senior Adviser at the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries acted as the EFTA spokesperson.
In the fifth review meeting, discussions continued on all the topics under review, namely market access for goods, rules of origin and customs issues, trade facilitation as well as trade and sustainable development. Detailed follow-ups for all the areas covered by the update will be carried out before the sides meet again for the sixth review meeting foreseen for autumn 2019.
Merchandise trade stands at some 1.6 billion USD and has grown steadily over recent years. EFTA’s main exports include pharmaceuticals, ships and vessels, machinery and mineral fuel, while imports include aluminium, vehicles and nickel, as well as fruits, nuts and meat.
Read more about merchandise trade between EFTA and SACU here.
- EFTA and #Philippines trade experts meet for a workshop on the use of preferences in their free trade agreement. 📊🤓… https://t.co/iM9Fe169Zf — 21 hours 1 min ago
- RT @ParmelinG: Très heureux que les négociations entre l'AELE et la Moldavie aient abouti ! Un accord de libre-échange avec la 🇲🇩… https://t.co/zQ07aXOUwG — 21 hours 13 min ago
- EFTA 🇮🇸🇱🇮🇳🇴🇨🇭 and Moldova 🇲🇩concluded negotiations on a free trade agreement 👏 “The conclusion of this agreement m… https://t.co/60wf6wWHhJ — 1 day 16 hours ago