EU, southern Africa ink trade partnership

Negotiators for southern African states had agreed a new trade pact with the EU that would give the countries a bigger market for food exports, South Africa’s Trade and Industry Department said on Friday. The economic partnership agreement, which has been in the pipeline for a decade, comes in time to beat an October 1 deadline which would have seen Botswana, Namibia and Swaziland lose preferential EU access for their beef, fish and sugar. If ratified by the governments involved, the deal will allow South Africa to export 110 million litres of wine, 150 000 tons of sugar and 80 000 tons of ethanol to the EU without paying duties, among other concessions. “There is also improved access for our exports of flowers, some dairy, fruit and fruit products,” the department said in a statement. – Reuters