Membership


World Trade Organisation (WTO)

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) was established in 1995 and Swaziland is a founder member. Some of the main features of the WTO are that, it supervises the liberalisation of international trade; provides a platform for negotiating and formalizing international agreements; and has a dispute settlement mechanism that ensures compliance to agreements among Members. The WTO Secretariat is in Geneva, Switzerland. Information on the WTO including the status on the negotiations can be found at the following website: –www.wto.org


Southern African Development Community SADC

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has fifteen Members and it attained its Free Trade Area status in January 2008. All the five members of SACU belong to SADC. One of the main objectives of SADC is to facilitate the free flow of goods among its Member States and to reduce and eliminate non-tariff barriers (NTBs) to trade. The SADC Secretariat is in Gaborone, Botswana. The SADC Protocol on Trade and other activities relating the SADC integration agenda can be found at the following website: – www.sadc.int


Southern African Customs Union (SACU)

Established in 1910, the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) is one of the oldest Customs Union in the world. Other members of the Union include Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. The new SACU Agreement of 2002 came into force in 2004. The SACU Agreement has a revenue sharing formula, which has three components. Over the years SACU has negotiated trade pacts with Third Parties, including with European Free Trade Association, MERCUSOR and is currently negotiating with India. Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland and South Africa are members of the Common Monetary Area (CMA), which facilitates the flow of capital among these countries. The SACU Secretariat is in Windhoek, Namibia. The SACU Agreement and its main activities are found at the following website: –www.sacu.int

 


Common Market for Eastern and Southern African Countries (COMESA)

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern African Countries (COMESA) has nineteen members. Swaziland’s trade in COMESA is under derogation or a waiver. This waiver recognizes Swaziland’s unique position of belonging to SACU and hence, her technical challenges regarding extending reciprocal trade preferences to the COMESA Member States. The COMESA Secretariat is in Lusaka, Zambia. COMESA launched its customs Union in 2009 and more information about this organisation can be found at the following website: –www.comesa.int