Businesses will now easily qualify for duty-free access to European markets after the European Commission officially greenlit expanded cumulation rules for the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu).
The cumulation rules allow Sacu member states to treat materials or labour from a wide network of partner countries as if they were local.
Under standard trade agreements, a product usually must be entirely produced within one country to qualify for tax-free entry into the European Union (EU).
The notice was shared by the Namibia Revenue Agency yesterday.
“That cumulation allows exporters in a Southern African Development Community (SADC) Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) state to incorporate, in the products they manufacture and export to the EU, materials originating in other SADC EPA state, in other African, Caribbean and Pacific EPA states or in the overseas countries and territories of the union as if they were originating in the SADC EPA state exporting the final product to the union,” reads the notice.
