#1NATIONAL CONSULTATIVE FORUM FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE AfCFTA IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY & ACTION PLAN (3rd NOVEMBER 2022, MOUNTAIN VIEW, MBABANE) PRESENTATION ON THE STATUS OF ESWATINI UNDER AFCFTA (Ministry of Commerce, Industry & Trade: Department of International Trade)#2. External Trade Relations OUTLINE • Current State of Play For Eswatini Under AfCFTA . • Other Negotiated Instruments to Support the Liberalisation Process • Positioning Eswatini for the Implementation of the AfCFTA Agreement/Obligations#3EXTERNAL TRADE RELATIONS ■ In seeking to maximize her opportunities for international trade, Eswatini is Party to several trade agreements; bilateral, regional, continental and multilateral, covering both trade in goods and trade in services. REGIONAL/CONTINENTAL Southern African Customs Union (SACU): • Goods Southern African Development Community (SADC): Goods and Services MULTILATERAL/BILATERAL World Trade Organization Goods and Services SADC-EU-Economic Partnership Agreement Common Market for Southern and Eastern Africa (COMESA): Goods Trade under derogation • Services AfCFTA: Goods and Services SACU+M - UK EPA SACU- EFTA FTA (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland) SACU-MERCOSUR PTA (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay) SACU-India Preferential Trade Agreement#4CURRENT STATE OF PLAY FOR ESWATINI UNDER AFCFTA Eswatini signed the AfCFTA Agreement in March 2018, together with the three Protocols (Trade in Goods and Trade in Services and the Protocol on Rules and Procedures on the Settlement of Disputes • Has also ratified the Agreement (2018). • For Goods - Eswatini participate in the AfCFTA negotiations as part of SACU and implementation of commitments, hence has made her tariff offer under SACU. ⚫ SACU offer still being negotiated internally to reach the required level of ambition of 90%. Currently SACU offer is at 98.6%. • For Trade in services - Eswatini has made a commitment on the five (5) priority services sectors being negotiated namely; Business, Communication, Financial, Tourism and Transport services. • These are almost similar to the priority sectors covered under SADC and COMESA (Construction and Energy).#5. The trade in services liberalization process under the AfCFTA, seeks to eventually cover substantially all the sectors as reflected in W/120 Services Sectoral Classification List (including distribution; educational; environmental; health related & social services; recreational, cultural & sporting services and other services not included elsewhere). Approaches used: (i) GATS plus for the WTO Members and autonomous liberalization for the non-WTO Members; (ii) Positive list approach accompanied by Regulatory Annexes in the priority services sectors. • RECS FTAs are the building blocs for the AfCFTA.#6OTHER NEGOTIATED INSTRUMENTS TO SUPPORT THE LIBERALISATION PROCESS AfCFTA - Protocols on: Investment; Intellectual Property Rights; Competition Policy, Digital Trade/E-commerce, Women and Youth in Trade AND the Protocol on Rules and Procedures on the Settlement of Disputes (finalised). • Mutual Recognition Agreements - for trade in services · Article 8 (3) of the AfCFTA Agreement allows for the conclusion of additional instruments deemed necessary, within the scope of this Agreement, in furtherance of the objectives of the AfCFTA and further stipulates that these shall form an integral part of the Agreement upon adoption.#7POSITIONING ESWATINI FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AFCFTA AGREEMENT/OBLIGATIONS ➤Development of a National AfCFTA Implementation Strategy and Action Plan covering both Trade in Goods and Services >Resource Mobilisation for the implementation of the Strategy ➤Implementation of the Strategy, including undertaking the necessary regulatory reforms. ➤Development of a National Implementation Plan to guide the implementation of commitments made for both goods and services.#8m Thank you