The SADC Trade in Services Agenda – Overview and State of Play

2 Services Sector in SADC Economies (% of GDP, 2007) Source: WDI, World Bank; Eurostat

Sub-sectors No. of Members (LDCs in brackets) List of WTO Members 20 or less44(21)Angola, Bahrain, Barbados, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Fiji, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia (6)Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brunei Darussalam, Burundi, Cote D’Ivoire, Djibouti, Dominica, El Salvador, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Kenya, Macao, Mongolia, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Qatar, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tunisia, Uruguay, Zimbabwe Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Cuba, India, Morocco, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Trinidad and Tobago, UAE Brazil, Bulgaria, Ecuador, Egypt, Hong Kong (China), Israel, Jamaica, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, Panama, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Venezuela (1)Argentina, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Lesotho, New Zealand, Oman, Panama, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, Turkey (1)Albania, Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Estonia, Gambia, Jordan, Latvia, Lithuania, Philippines, Switzerland, Thailand 121 and more 29Colombia, Croatia, EC (15), Georgia, Hungary, Iceland, Japan, Korea, Kyrgyz Republic, Latvia, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Norway, USA WTO GATS Commitments of SADC Member States

SADC Member States

Botswana’s commitments by sector* *Denotes incidence of commitments, by sub-sector, without assessment of depth/quality

Liberalization of Trade in Services in SADC Work on Trade in Services started in 2000 with the development of a framework agreement (initially foreseen as an Annex to the Trade Protocol) The “Protocol on Trade in Services” was adopted by Ministers of Trade in July 2009 Protocol to be approved by the Summit on the recommendation of the Council-> August 2012 Note: Several other SADC Protocols address issues related to trade in Services – Finance and Investment (M3) – Draft Protocol on Movement of Persons (M4) – Sector-specific Protocols (e.g. covering transport, Communications, finance etc.)

SADC - First Round of negotiations 1.Objective for first round of negotiations: – Each Member State will provide better treatment to SADC MS in each priority sector than is provided in their GATS schedule – No new restrictions to be introduced during the negotiations (“standstill”) Plus: GATS Article V Substantial sectoral coverage (~ 6 sectors) And elimination of substantially all discrimination (~better than GATS commitments sufficient(?))

Timelines for first round of Negotiations end August 2012 First phase: requests and offers April 2012 Requests in at least 2 sectors end November 2012 Offers in at least 2 sectors end March 2013 Requests in at least 2 sectors end June 2013 Offers in at least 2 sectors Beginning of Negotiations Sector focus in the first phase: 1)Communication Services 2)Financial Services 3)Transport Services 4)Tourism Services Sector focus in the first phase: 1)Communication Services 2)Financial Services 3)Transport Services 4)Tourism Services

Timelines for first round of negotiations (ctd) -> Thereafter: Energy-related and Construction Services Requests: end August 2013 Offers: End November 2013 Additional Elements: -Sector Studies (market analysis in all MS) -Sector Fora (bringing regional stakeholders together) -Transport ~ September Communication ~ October 2012

Negotiations under SADC – main principles Conducted through request - offer method Requests exchanged before offers Requests to one or more trading partner To be circulated through the SADC Secretariat Full transparency: requests to any trading partner shared with all trading partners

Making requests to trading partners 1.Evaluate trading opportunities in the relevant sectors Where are you trading already now?  what sectors? what markets? What modes? Potential to expand services trade ?  what sectors? what markets? What modes?

Making requests to trading partners 2.Examine current market situation  Are the sectors of interest listed in commitments of trading partners?  What is the level of commitments? Have relevant Modes been bound? Are they subject to quotas or equity restrictions? Etc. Are your suppliers facing discrimination?  Are certain regulatory measures of concern?  Are there MFN exemptions that affect your interests?

Making requests to trading partners 3.Strategic Considerations  Evaluate the requests in accordance with their economic, and strategic importance  Requests also to non-key markets?  Horizontal requests? ->covering all sectors, MS, equally  Compare the value of your requests with the value of your offers – are they roughly commensurate?  …take into account current level of openness, LDC status etc.

Formulating offers 1 Assess the REQUESTS received 2 Evaluate trade & development interests  Promotion of FDI?  Improvements in business and/or social infrastructures?  Promotion of knowledge transfer?  Reduction/elimination of domestic supply gaps?  Other social/economic/regional policy objectives?

3 Draft proposed offer Consult with relevant ministries & stakeholders  Use existing schedule/or list of MFN exemptions as a basis, then clearly mark changes (use agreed editorial conventions)  Consider technical corrections and clarifications  Consult SADC Secretariat for advice if needed