Patel says Brexit will not affect trade between UK and South Africa
BREXIT will not affect trade relations between South Africa and the United Kingdom, the Department of Trade and Industry said.
The UK officially left the European Union (EU) on Friday.
However, it will be treated as a member of the union for the purposes of international agreements concluded by the union.
This transitional period is set to last until December 2020.
The UK is South Africa’s fourth-largest market for exports, behind China, Germany and the US, and it is the seventh-largest supplier of imported goods.
Trade and Industry Minister Ebrahim Patel said during the transitional period provided for in the UK Withdrawal Agreement, trade between South Africa and the UK would continue unchanged.
“South African exporters can plan ahead with confidence in the period ahead. Their legal and regulatory arrangements remain stable and in place as they were during the period that the UK was part of the EU.
“The UK remains one of South Africa’s key trading partners.
“In 2018, the UK was the fourth-largest destination for South African exports, with bilateral trade between the two countries amounting to more than R140 billion,” Patel said.
South Africa also entered a new agreement with the UK over a two-year period following the announcement of the UK’s intention to leave the EU.
The new agreement, known as the
SACUM-UK Economic Partnership Agreement, was agreed between the parties in September 2019.
“The preferential market access contained in the SADC-EU EPA was transposed into SACUM-UK EPA. However, additional market access was agreed for South Africa in regards to 13 agricultural products, including wine and sugar, in the form of new volumes in relation to the tariff rate quotas contained in the EPA with the EU,” Patel added.
Meanwhile, Britain would also start reaching out to other countries about new trade arrangements now that it is out of the EU, foreign secretary Dominic Raab said.
Brexit’s first few days have passed without any major incidents, but British police are investigating a threatening poster pinned on the Winchester Tower apartment block in Norwich.
The poster warned residents that “we do not tolerate people” speaking any language other than English in the building.
BRITAIN laid out a tough opening stance for future talks with the EU yesterday, saying it would set its own agenda rather than meeting the bloc’s rules to ensure frictionless trade.
After officially leaving the EU on Friday, Britain now must negotiate future trade relations with the bloc, to take effect when a standstill transition period expires at the end of the year.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government has been quick to send Brussels a message before trade talks begin next month: Brexit, for him, means sovereignty trumps the economy.
The EU has repeatedly told Britain the level of access to its lucrative single market will depend on how far London agrees to adhere to a “level playing field” – shorthand for rules on environmental standards, labour regulations and state aid.
But despite the appeals of many businesses for the government to ensure goods can trade across borders freely, ministers have been briefing companies that they should adjust to a new future when Britain will not adhere to EU rules.
Johnson, according to sources, has taken last year’s election, which handed him a majority in parliament, as approval for his policy of putting
Britain’s right to set its own rules above the demands of businesses. He will outline that approach today.
“We are taking back control of our laws, so we are not going to have high alignment with the EU, legislative alignment with their rules,” Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said. “But we’ll want to co-operate and we expect the EU to follow through on their commitment to a Canada-style free trade agreement.”
Asked whether the government expected businesses to have to prepare for new checks on goods at the border, Raab said: “The agreement that we made with the EU was to avoid all of that, and I am sure they will want to live up to the undertakings they have made just as we’d expect to do the same.”
Late on Saturday, a government
source said if the EU would not offer a Canada-style trade deal, London would instead pursue a looser trade agreement.
“There are only two likely outcomes in negotiation – a free trade deal like Canada or a looser arrangement like Australia – and we are happy to pursue both,” the source said.
The EU says it will not seal a trade deal with a large, economically powerful neighbour without solid provisions to guarantee fair competition. Some European leaders fear Johnson could try to undercut EU businesses by loosening regulatory standards, something he has promised not to do.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar also called on the British government not to set strict red lines, saying this could make an already difficult negotiation even harder.