AGREEMENT on Trade, Development and …

1 AGREEMENTon trade , Development and cooperation between the european community and its MemberStates, of the one part, and the republic of South Africa, of the other partTHE KINGDOM OF BELGIUM,THE KINGDOM OF DENMARK,THE FEDERAL republic OF GERMANY,THE HELLENIC republic ,THE KINGDOM OF SPAIN,THE FRENCH republic ,IRELAND,THE ITALIAN republic ,THE GRAND DUCHY OF LUXEMBOURG,THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS,THE republic OF AUSTRIA,THE PORTUGUESE republic ,THE republic OF FINLAND,THE KINGDOM OF SWEDEN,THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND,Contracting Parties to the Treaty establishing THE european community ,hereinafter referred to as the Member States , andTHE european community , hereinafter referred to as the community ,of the one part, andTHE republic OF SOUTH AFRICA, hereinafter referred to as South Africa ,of the other part.

2 Hereinafter referred to as the Parties ,CONSIDERING the importance of the existing links of friendship and cooperation between the community , MemberStates and South Africa and the common values that the Parties share; 311/3 Official Journal of the european CommunitiesENCONSIDERING thattheCommunity,MemberStatesandSouthAfr icawishtofurtherstrengthentheselinksandt oestablishcloseandlastingrelationsbasedo nreciprocity,partnershipandco-developmen t;RECOGNISING thehistoricalachievementsoftheSouthAfric anpeopleinabolishingtheapartheidsysteman dbuildinganewpoliticalorderbasedontherul eoflaw,humanrightsanddemocracy;RECOGNISI NGtheCommunity'sandMemberStates'politica landfinancialsupporttothisprocessofpolit icalchangeandtransitioninSouthAfrica;REC ALLING thefirmcommitmentofthePartiestotheprinci plesoftheUnitedNationsCharterandtodemocr aticprinciplesandfundamentalhumanrightsa slaiddownintheUniversalDeclarationonHuma nRights.

3 BEARINGINMINDtheCooperationAgreementbetw eenSouthAfricaandtheEuropeanCommunitywhi chwassignedon10 October1994;RECALLING thewishofthePartiestoestablishtheclosest possiblerelationshipbetweenSouthAfricaan dthecountriesoftheACP-ECLom Conventionasreflectedinthesigning,on24 April1997,oftheProtocolgoverningtheacces sionofSouthAfricatothefourthACP-ECConven tionofLom ,asamendedbytheAgreementsignedinMauritiu son4 November1995;TAKINGACCOUNT oftheParties'rightsandobligationsinterms oftheirmembershipoftheWorldTradeOrganisa tion(WTO),theneedtocontributetotheimplem entationoftheresultsoftheUruguayRound,an dtheeffortsalreadymadebybothpartiesinthi srespect;RECALLING theimportanceattachedbythePartiestothepr inciplesandruleswhichgoverninternational tradeandtotheneedtoapplytheminatranspare ntandnon-discriminatorymanner.

4 CONFIRMINGtheCommunity'sandMemberStates' supportandencouragementfortheprocessoftr adeliberalisationandeconomicrestructurin gcurrentlyunderwayinSouthAfrica;RECOGNIS ING theeffortsbytheSouthAfricanGovernmenttoe nsureeconomicandsocialdevelopmentforthep eopleofSouthAfrica;EMPHASISING theimportanceboththeEuropeanUnionandSout hAfricaplaceonthesuccessfulimplementatio noftheSouthAfricanreconstructionanddevel opmentprogramme;CONFIRMING thecommitmentofthePartiestopromoteregion alcooperationandeconomicintegrationbetwe enthecountriesofsouthernAfrica,andtoenco uragetheliberalisationoftradebetweenthos ecountries;BEARINGINMINDtheParties'commi tmenttoensurethattheirmutualarrangements donotimpedetheprocessofrestructuringtheS outhernAfricanCustomsUnion(SACU),whichli nksSouthAfricatofourACPS tates.

5 UNDERLINING theimportancewhichthePartiesattachtothev aluesandprinciplessetoutintheFinalDeclar ationsoftheInternationalConferenceonPopu lationandDevelopmentheldinCairoin1994,of theWorldSummitforSocialDevelopmentheldin CopenhageninMarch1995andoftheFourthWorld ConferenceonWomenheldinBeijingin1995;REA FFIRMING thecommitmentofthePartiestoeconomicandso cialdevelopmentandtherespectforthefundam entalrightsofworkers,notablybypromotingt herelevantInternationalLabourOrganisatio n(ILO)Conventionscoveringsuchtopicsasthe freedomofassociation,therighttocollectiv ebargainingandnon-discrimination;theabol itionofforcedlabourandchildlabour.

6 L311 ,HAVEAGREEDASFOLLOWS:TITLEIGENERALOBJECT IVES,PRINCIPLESANDPOLITICALDIALOGUEA rticle1 ObjectivesTheobjectivesofthisAgreementar e:(a)toprovideanappropriateframeworkford ialoguebetweentheparties,promotingthedev elopmentofcloserelationsinallareascovere dbythisAgreement;(b)tosupporttheeffortsm adebySouthAfricatoconsolidatetheeconomic andsocialfoundationsofitstransitionproce ss;(c)topromoteregionalcooperationandeco nomicintegrationinthesouthernAfricanregi ontocontributetoitsharmoniousandsustaina bleeconomicandsocialdevelopment;(d)topro motetheexpansionandreciprocalliberalisat ionofmutualtradeingoods,servicesandcapit al;(e)toencouragethesmoothandgradualinte grationofSouthAfricaintotheworldeconomy.

7 (f)topromotecooperationbetweentheCommuni tyandSouthAfricawithintheboundsoftheirre spectivepowers, , , ,within30days,withallrelevantinformation requiredforathoroughexaminationofthesitu ation, , , , ,forthepurposeofthecorrectinterpretation andpracticalapplicationofthisAgreement,t hattheterm circumstancesofparticularurgency :(i)repudiationoftheAgreementnotsanction edbythegeneralrulesofinternationallaw,or (ii)violationoftheessentialelementoftheA greement, , :(a)promotegreatermutualunderstandingbet weenthePartiesandagreaterconvergenceofvi ews;(b)enableeachpartytoconsidertheposit ionandinterestsoftheother;(c)encourageth esupportfordemocracy,theruleoflawandther espectofhumanrights;(d) ,notably:(a)atministeriallevel;(b)atthel evelofseniorofficialsrepresentingSouthAf rica,ontheonehand,andthePresidencyoftheC ounciloftheEuropeanUnionandtheCommission oftheEuropeanCommunities,ontheother.

8 (c)takingfulladvantageofalldiplomaticcha nnels,includingregularbriefings,consulta tionsontheoccasionofinternationalmeeting sandcontactsbetweendiplomaticrepresentat ivesinthirdcountries;(d)whereappropriate , ,thePartiesshalltakefulladvantageof,andc ontributeactivelyto,theregionalpolitical dialoguebetweentheEuropeanUnionandthecou ntriesofSouthernAfrica, , (FTA) ,ontheSouthAfricanside,amaximumof12years and,ontheCommunityside, , , , ,inaccordancewiththestandstillandrollbac kcommitmentagreedbetweentheParties,andth eagreedderogationstotheseprinciples, (notablytheproductslistedinAnnexII,lists 3,4and5;AnnexIII,lists2,3,4and6;AnnexIV, lists3,4,7and8;AnnexV;AnnexVI,lists2,3an d5.)

9 AnnexVII)thedutytowhichsuccessivereducti onssetoutintheAgreementaretobeappliedsha llbeeitherthebasicdutyreferredtoinparagr aph1ofthisArticle,orthedutyappliedonaner gaomnesbasisonthestartingdayoftherelevan ttariffdismantlementschedule, , ,list1shallbeprogressivelyabolishedinacc ordancewiththefollowingschedule:onthedat eofentryintoforceofthisAgreementeachduty shallbereducedto75%ofthebasicduty;oneyea rafterthedateofentryintoforceofthisAgree menteachdutyshallbereducedto50%ofthebasi cduty;twoyearsafterthedateofentryintofor ceofthisAgreementeachdutyshallbereducedt o25%ofthebasicduty; ,list2shallbeprogressivelyabolishedinacc ordancewiththefollowingschedule:onthedat eofentryintoforceofthisAgreementeachduty shallbereducedto86%ofthebasicduty;oneyea rafterthedateofentryintoforceofthisAgree menteachdutyshallbereducedto72%ofthebasi cduty;twoyearsafterthedateofentryintofor ceofthisAgreementeachdutyshallbereducedt o57%ofthebasicduty.

10 Threeyearsafterthedateofentryintoforceof thisAgreementeachdutyshallbereducedto43% ofthebasicduty;fouryearsafterthedateofen tryintoforceofthisAgreementeachdutyshall bereducedto28%ofthebasicduty;fiveyearsaf terthedateofentryintoforceofthisAgreemen teachdutyshallbereducedto14%ofthebasicdu ty; ,list3shallbeprogressivelyabolishedina