Stakeholder Interactive Session on Brexit and its implications for SA

Please find attached notes (and associated annexures) from the Stakeholder Interactive Session on Brexit and its implications for South Africa, hosted by the DTI on 3 April 2019.

A detailed brief of the proceedings and outcomes of the session shall be shared by the DTI as soon as possible. In the meantime, in order to facilitate consultations within your companies or industry associations, the following action items as agreed during the session should serve as a guide:

Identifying EU-SADC EPA Protocol 1 Article 43 Derogation products for continued cumulation with UK materials or inputs for exports to the EU;
Concrete data on trade flows and sourcing arrangements;
Imports of materials from the UK that could be affected by the temporary UK MFN regime;
Assessment of preference erosion as a result of loss of preferential advantage due to the UK MFN regime;
Assessment of competitiveness in light of UK MFN regime visa-vis competitor countries in the UK;
Assessment of competitiveness in relation to competitor countries with rollover agreements with the UK (i.e. Switzerland and Chile) as well as GSP beneficiary countries into the UK;
With regards cumulation (policy considerations): (a) Implications/impact of full cumulation with EU as demanded by the UK on industry; and (b) impact on industry with respect future/potential investments and regional integration (i.e. extent to which we can source from within the region (i.e. within SACU, SADC, and Africa);
Impact of UK MFN duties on future investment decisions;

Please take note some of the above action items are captured in the questionnaire referred to below.

Attached herein is accompanying supporting documents that should assist you as you make your respective firm/sector assessments of the possible implications of the various Brexit scenarios as discussed during the interactive session. These are:
South Africa’s (or SACU) tariff schedule/book as at January 2019;
Overview of possible Brexit scenarios;
UK-published temporary MFN regime, including preferential import duties applicable to qualifying/eligible unilateral Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) scheme countries;
The UK-Chile post-Brexit trade agreement;
The UK-Switzerland post-Brexit Agreement;
Questionnaire to assist with collating information from companies or associations (NOTE: this was adapted into generic format from the questionnaire that has already been shared with the automotive and agro-processing sectors)
Below is the link that will direct you to the UK tariff portal, especially for those tariff lines whose duties on their MFN schedule is denoted as an asterisk (*).

https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/trade-tariff/sections

Lastly, below is a news article by the Minister of Trade and Industry on Brexit that was published on Business Day of 4 April 2019.

https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/2019-04-04-rob-davies-how-brexit-will-affect-sa-uk-trade-relations/

Please send completed questionnaires to the following contact at the DTI:

Kissinger Ntsako Nkuna
Market Access (Trade Negotiations)
International Trade and Economic Development Division
Email: KNkuna@thedti.gov.za

Stakeholder Interactive Session on Brexit and its implications for SA

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