SA raises concern over Zimbabwean trade restrictions
Zimbabwe's restrictions on some of SA's products violate Sadc trade protocols, warns Rob Davies
The South African government has raised concerns over more than 100 tariff lines in Zimbabwe’s laws which act as barriers to trade between the two countries. In an interview on the sidelines of the SA-Zimbabwe binational commission in Harare, trade & industry minister Rob Davies told Business Day the issue was one of the areas of disagreement in the talks. President Cyril Ramaphosa mentioned the barriers to trade in his opening remarks to the commission, saying: “There are good prospects for both of our countries but there is also a need to ensure ease of doing business and elimination of trade barriers.” Davies said SA was concerned that Zimbabwe continued to impose restrictions on some of its products. This was despite Zimbabwe lifting controversial legislation, called Statutory Instrument 64 (SI64), that governed the tariffs. Trade between the two countries is heavily tilted in favour of SA which exported goods worth more than R30.8bn to Zimbabwe in 2018, according to figures rel...
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