Chairperson, the negotiations with regard to a Tripartite Free Trade Area, FTA, between the Southern African Development Community, SADC, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, Comesa, and the East African Community, EAC, were launched in South Africa on 12 June 2011. Several negotiating sessions have been held since then, which resulted in a common understanding of the principles that will underpin this process, as well as the outcome.
It is now agreed that the Tripartite FTA negotiations will not seek to reopen existing trade arrangements that are already in place within the existing regional economic communities. In other words, the trade arrangements existing in SADC, the EAC, and Comesa will remain intact.
In order to extend the integration process, the negotiations will take place among members of the three groupings that do not currently have a preferential trade arrangement with one another.
This means that the Southern African Customs Union, Sacu, of which South Africa is part, will negotiate trade preferences with non-SADC Tripartite FTA members, notably some members of the East African Community and Egypt, as well as others that are prepared to make reciprocal tariff concessions.
At present South Africa is preparing a tariff offer on the basis of detailed technical consultations in the National Economic Development and Labour Council, Nedlac. This offer will then be consolidated into a Sacu offer, and will form the basis of our negotiations with the non-SADC Tripartite FTA partners. We expect that these negotiations will be initiated in the early part of 2013.
As I said yesterday, in response to the statement by the hon Oriani- Ambrosini, our approach to the regional integration process on the African continent is shaped by the concept of development integration, which is also the concept that was endorsed by the members through their heads of state in June 2011. This approach envisages that we complement this effort in relation to the FTA negotiations with efforts to promote infrastructure development, most noticeably in the North-South corridor, and also co- operate in regard to the promotion of productive sector activity.