Experience and knowledge sharing study tour on SADC-EU Partnership Agreement (EPA) safeguard measures and trade remedies provisions, for trade officials from Angola and Mozambique

The study tour is part of the planned outputs under the Mozambique project, titled: “PROMOVE Comércio – Supporting trade and development in Mozambique”, and the EU-UNCTAD Joint Programme for Angola: “Train for Trade II in Commercial Diplomacy Component”.

The two projects are EU- funded and implemented by UNCTAD. They respectively aim at assisting Mozambique in developing EPA/WTO consistent commerce defense system, including by enacting related legislative and regulatory frameworks, and, in the case of Angola, by strengthening the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MIC), in trade policy formulation and trade negotiations in multilateral, inter-regional and regional contexts.

The organization of the study tour is undertaken by UNCTAD in collaboration with the Trade Law Centre (TRALAC), an independent think tank (a non-profit organization), based in Cape Town, South Africa. TRALAC provides assistance to African countries to help in building trade-related capacity and to improving their trade governance and regional integration.

Angola’s team is composed of 9 officials/experts (including 8 women) representing the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MIC). The delegation of Mozambique is composed of 10 people , including 7 women, representing, MIC, Investment and Export Promotion Agency, Revenue Authority, National Institute of Standardization and Quality, and the Mozambican Chamber of Commerce. 

The study tour is an opportunity for officials from Mozambique, which is a country member of the SADC-EU Partnership Agreement (EPA) since 2018, to meet and share their EPA implementation experience with representatives from Angola, a country that is currently negotiating the terms of its accession to the aforementioned agreement.

The debates during the interactive sessions will underline the delicate balance to be stricken between legitimate trade policies and laws (trade remedies), adopted by States parties to such trade arrangements in order to protect their economies from unfair trade practices, and the need to avoid falling into unwarranted protectionism.