South Africa and five other Southern African countries have concluded a new trade agreement with Britain.
The South African Minister of Trade and Industry, Ebrahim Patel say they, together with Lesotho, Eswatini, Namibia, Botswana and Mozambique, made the deal with Britain. The new agreement will govern the bilateral trading relationship between the six countries and Britain after the UK leaves the EU without an agreement or “no-deal Brexit”.
Patel says the South African government have been engaging Britain in the past two years after an announcement to leave the EU and avoid disruption to the country’s exports.
“I am pleased that we have concluded this agreement with the United Kingdom”, he said.
The new agreement will replicate the terms of previous trade on tariffs, quotas, rules of origin and health and safety regulations.
“We are pleased that regardless of the outcomes of these processes, our trading relationship with the United Kingdom can continue without disruption. This is important for the thousands of South African workers whose jobs are dependent on this trade and for the investors who have utilized South Africa as an export base to Britain and the rest of the world”, says Patel.
In 2018, Britain was the fourth largest destination for South African exports, with bilateral trade between the two countries amounting to more than $9.3 billion.