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International Trade Administration Act, 2002 (Act No. 71 of 2002)

Notices

Guidelines for the Imposition of an Agricultural Safeguard Measure provided for, in article 35 of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union and its member states, of the one part, and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) EPA states, of the other (EU-SADC EPA)

2. Scope

 

2.1 The scope of these Guidelines covers the process for imposition of an agricultural safeguard measure in terms of Article 35 of the EU-SADC EPA, which provides as follows:

 

"1. Notwithstanding Article 34 of this Agreement, a safeguard measure in the form of an import duty may be applied if, during any given twelve-month period, the volume of imports into SACU of an agricultural product listed in Annex IV originating in the EU exceeds the reference quantity for the product therein indicated.

 

2. A duty which shall not exceed 25 per cent of the current WTO bound tariff or 25 percentage points, whichever is higher, may be imposed to the agricultural products referred to in paragraph 1. Such duty shall not exceed the prevailing MFN applied rate.

 

3. Safeguard measures referred to in this article shall be maintained in place for the remainder of the calendar year or five (5) months, whichever is the longer.

 

4. Safeguard measures referred to in this Article shall not be maintained or applied with respect to the same good at the same time as:
(a) a bilateral safeguard measure in accordance with Article 34;
(b) a measure under Article XIX of GATT 1994 and the Agreement on Safeguards; or
(c) a special safeguard measure under Article 5 of the Agreement on Agriculture.

 

5. Safeguard measures referred to in this Article shall be implemented in a transparent manner. Within ten (10) days after applying such a measure, SACU shall notify the EU in writing and shall provide relevant data concerning the measure. On request, SACU shall consult the EU regarding the application of the measure. SACU shall also notify the Trade and Development Committee within thirty (30) days after such imposition.

 

6. The implementation and operation of this Article may be the subject of discussion and review in the Trade and Development Committee. On request of either Party, the Trade and Development Committee may review the reference quantities and agricultural products as provided for in this Article.

 

7. The provisions of this Article may only be applied during the period of twelve (12) years from the date of entry into force of this Agreement."