Zim ratifies economic partnership with Britain
Zimbabwe has ratified the economic partnership agreement (EPA) with the United Kingdom (UK), an arrangement that allows the former’s exporters to continue enjoying tariff and quota free access quarter to the European nation’s market.
British Ambassador to Zimbabwe Melanie Robinson, revealed this on her twitter account yesterday, adding Europe’s second largest economy supports Harare for job creation and development.
“Glad, Zimbabwe has ratified the Economic Partnership Agreement with the UK. This ensures that (Zimbabwean exporters) tariff and quota free access to the EU market,” she posted.
The UK had committed to continue its previous trade arrangements with the Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) States if it exited the European Union (EU) without a deal in March last year, or at the end of an implementation period.
The UK and EU are now in a transition period until 31 December 2020. During this transition period the status quo prevails while the terms of the future EU-UK relationship are negotiated.
The ESA-UK Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) provides immediate duty-free-quota-free access to goods from ESA States into the UK in exchange for more gradual tariff liberalisation from the ESA States.
In order to transition the trade agreements that the EU concluded with third countries, the UK agreed with many countries that the most appropriate and proportionate form of legal instrument to ensure continuity, as it prepared to leave EU, was a short form agreement.
The UK’s trading arrangements with Zimbabwe and other ESA States namely Madagascar, Mauritius, and Seychelles were, until now, governed by the Interim Agreement establishing a framework for an Economic Partnership Agreement between itself and ESA countries.
The interim EPA provided for provisional application and are being provisionally applied by the EU. Given that the UK sought to maintain effects of the previous agreement with Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Zimbabwe as it leaves the EU, it had retained this provision in the ESA EPA.
Total trade in goods and services between the UK and Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Zimbabwe was £1.5 billion in 2017, around 0.1 percent of the UK’s total trade.
Madagascar, then, was the UK’s 143rd largest trading partner, Mauritius was 79th largest trading partner, Seychelles 146th largest trading partner, and Zimbabwe 100th largest trading partner.
Zimbabwe’s exports to the UK increased by 276 percent to US$112 million in 2018 from US$30 million in 2012, according to ZimTrade.
The composition of Zimbabwe’s exports to the UK was dominated by diamonds, mange tout peas, black fermented tea, oranges, unmanufactured tobacco, fresh avocados, sculptures, fresh peaches, fresh nectarines, fresh raspberries, passion fruit and jewellery, among others.
Major imports from the European nation were motor vehicles, tractors, telephone sets, spare parts, live animals, medicaments and laboratory reagents, among others.
A public vote or referendum was held on 23 June, 2016, to decide whether the UK should leave or remain in the UU. Leave won by 52 percent to 48 percent. The referendum turnout was very high at 72 percent, with more than 30 million people voting; 17,4 million people voted for Brexit.-ebusinessweekly.co.zw
