View source for Southern African Customs Union

{{Short description|Customs union of five countries in Southern Africa}}
{{redirect|SACU|the place|Sacu|the organization|Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox geopolitical organization
| conventional_long_name = Southern African Customs Union
| symbol_type = Logo
| image_symbol = Southern African Customs Union logo.png
| symbol_width = 200px
| image_map = Southern African Customs Union.svg
| map_caption = Members of the SACU
| admin_center_type = Headquarters
| admin_center = [[Windhoek]]
| largest_city = [[Johannesburg]]
| languages_type = Official language
| languages = {{nowrap|[[English language|English]] (''[[de facto]]'')<sup>a</sup>}}
| demonym = [[Southern Africa#Demographics and languages|Southern African]]
| membership = {{collapsible list
 |titlestyle = background:transparent;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;
 |title = 5 states
 |{{flaglist|Botswana}}
 |{{flaglist|Eswatini}}
 |{{flaglist|Lesotho}}
| {{flaglist|Namibia}}
 |{{flaglist|South Africa}}
 }}
| leader_title1 = SACU Chair
| leader_name1 = {{flaglist|Lesotho}}<ref>Shttps://www.sacu.int/docs/pr/2023/Press-Release-SACU-Chairmanship-Rotation-and-Handover-15-July-2023.pdf</ref>
| leader_title2 = SACU Executive Secretary
| leader_name2 = T.D. Khasipe<ref>{{Cite web |title=** Welcome to the SACU Website * |url=https://www.sacu.int/organo.php?id=679}}</ref>
| org_type = [[Customs union]]
| established = 1910<ref>SACU (Southern African Customs Union). s.a. ''What is SACU?''. https://www.sacu.int/about/what_is.html Date of access: 16 October 2021</ref>
| established_event1 =
| established_date1 =
| area_magnitude =
| area_km2 = 2672830
| area_sq_mi = 1031985
| percent_water =
| population_estimate = {{increase}} 68,358,016<ref>World Bank. 2022. ''Population, total – South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Eswatini''. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=ZA-BW-LS-NA-SZ Date of access: 19 July 2022</ref>
| population_estimate_year = 2021
| population_density_km2 =
| drives_on = [[right- and left-hand traffic|left]]
| GDP_PPP = {{increase}} $950.7{{nbs}}billion<ref>World Bank. 2022. ''GDP, PPP (current international $) – South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Eswatini''. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.PP.CD?locations=ZA-BW-LS-NA-SZ Date of access: 19 July 2022</ref>
| GDP_PPP_year = 2021
| GDP_PPP_per_capita = {{increase}}$13,907
| GDP_nominal = {{increase}} $457.3{{nbs}}billion<ref>World Bank. 2022. ''GDP (current US$) – South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Eswatini''. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?locations=ZA-BW-LS-NA-SZ Date of access: 19 July 2022</ref>
| GDP_nominal_year = 2021
| GDP_nominal_per_capita = {{increase}}$6,689
| Gini = 59.0<!--number only-->
| Gini_year = 2015
| Gini_change = decrease<!--increase/decrease/steady-->
| Gini_ref = <ref>World Bank. 2022. ''In Southern Africa, Leveling the Playing Field at Birth Critical to Reducing Inequality, Intergenerational Poverty''. https://www.worldbank.org/en/region/afr/publication/in-southern-africa-leveling-the-playing-field-at-birth-critical-to-reducing-inequality-intergenerational-poverty Date of access: 13 April 2022</ref>
| Gini_rank =
| HDI_year = 2021
| HDI_change = decrease<!--increase/decrease/steady-->
| HDI = 0.696<!--number only-->
| HDI_ref =
| HDI_rank =
| time_zone = [[South African Standard Time|SAST]]
| utc_offset = +2
| currency = {{unbulleted list
| [[Botswanan Pula|Pula]] (BWP; Botswana) | [[South African Rand|Rand]] (ZAR; South Africa)|[[Swazi lilangeni|Lilangeni]] (SZL; Eswatini){{nbs}}<sup>b</sup>| [[Lesotho loti|Loti]] (LSL; Lesotho){{nbs}}<sup>b</sup>| [[Namibian dollar]] (NAD; Namibia){{nbs}}<sup>b</sup>
}}
| footnotes = {{unbulleted list |<sup>a</sup> The union has no official languages. However, English is an [[official language]] in all member states.|<sup>b</sup> Currency [[Common Monetary Area#Institutional framework|pegged]] to the South African Rand (ZAR).}}
| official_website = {{URL|https://sacu.int}}
| area_rank =
| today =
}}

The '''Southern African Customs Union''' ('''SACU''') is a [[customs union]] among five countries of [[Southern Africa]]: [[Botswana]], [[Eswatini]], [[Lesotho]], [[Namibia]] and [[South Africa]]. Its [[headquarters]] are in the Namibian capital, [[Windhoek]]. It was established in 1910.

== History ==
The SACU is the oldest existing customs union in the world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=WTO – Trade policy review – Southern African Customs Union 2003 |url=http://www.wto.org/English/tratop_e/tpr_e/tp213_e.htm |access-date=6 April 2018 |website=wto.org}}</ref>

The first customs union in the area was established in 1889 between the British [[Cape Colony]] and the Boer republic of the [[Orange Free State]]. In 1891 [[British Bechuanaland]] and [[Basutoland]] joined, followed by [[Bechuanaland Protectorate]] in 1893 and [[Colony of Natal|Natal]] in 1899. Parallel to this process, the Boer republic of the [[South African Republic]] and [[Swaziland]] (then a protectorate of the South African Republic) formed a customs union in 1894.

[[File:Southern African Customs Union (1903 to present).png|thumb|Evolution of the Southern African Customs Union from 1903 to the present day based on [[:File:Southern African Customs Union.svg |Southern African Customs Union.svg]], and information found in ''Brief Chronology of Customs Agreements in Southern Africa, 1855–1979'' by Derek J. Hudson. The light green area in Zambia represents the extent of the territory of North-western Rhodesia in 1905 when it joined the customs union]]

Following the [[Second Boer War]], and the establishment of British control over the Boer republics, the Southern African Customs Union was formed in 1903 with the signing of a [[1903 Southern African Customs Union Agreement|new Convention]] and replaced the previous arrangements. It consisted of Cape Colony (to which British Bechuanaland had been annexed in 1895), Basutoland, Bechuanaland Protectorate, Natal, [[Orange River Colony]] (the former Orange Free State), [[Transvaal Colony]] (the former South African Republic), and [[Southern Rhodesia]]. Swaziland joined in 1904 and [[Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia|North-western Rhodesia]] joined in 1905. In 1906 another convention was signed which superseded the 1903 agreement and retained all of the previous members.<ref name="Brief Chronology">[http://reference.sabinet.co.za/webx/access/journal_archive/052550590/938.pdf ''Brief Chronology of Customs Southern Africa, 1855–1979'' by Derek J. Hudson, Botswana Notes and Records, Vol. 11]</ref><ref name="SACU challenge">{{Cite web |title=Institute for Global Dialogue |url=http://www.igd.org.za/jdownloads/IGD+Reports/sacu_industrial_policy_in_southern_africa.pdf |access-date=6 April 2018 |website=igd.org.za}}</ref> In its current configuration it was established in 1910<ref>Ali M. El-Agraa, ''The European Union economics and policies'', Ed. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2007, p. 7.</ref> pursuant to a Customs Union Agreement between the [[Union of South Africa]] and the High Commission Territories of [[Bechuanaland]], [[Basutoland]] and [[Swaziland]]. Southern Rhodesia and North-western Rhodesia (later to become Northern Rhodesia after 1911) had declined to join the 1910 Agreement<ref name="1910 Text">{{Cite web |title=** Welcome to the SACU Website ** |url=http://www.sacu.int/show.php?id=564 |access-date=6 April 2018 |website=sacu.int}}</ref> but did maintain a common tariff and free trade arrangements with South Africa and the High Commission Territories (with some variations and exceptions) from 1910 until 1935. An attempt was made in 1949 to re-establish a customs union between South Africa and Southern Rhodesia, but it ultimately failed to do so.<ref name="Brief Chronology" />

With the advent of independence for the High Commission territories, the agreement was updated and, on 11 December 1969, it was relaunched as the SACU with the signing of an agreement between the [[South Africa]], [[Botswana]], [[Lesotho]] and [[Swaziland]]. The updated union officially entered into force on 1 March 1970. After [[Namibia]]'s independence from South Africa in 1990, it joined SACU as its fifth member, although it had been effectively a part of the customs union from the time of its conquest by South Africa in 1915<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ndulu |first=B. J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0PlKve0WaGEC&q=namibia+and+customs+union+1915&pg=RA1-PA262 |title=The Political Economy of Economic Growth in Africa, 1960–2000 |date=6 April 2018 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521878494 |access-date=6 April 2018 |via=Google Books}}</ref> (with the situation formalized in 1921 with arrangements between South Africa and the [[South West Africa]]).<ref name="Brief Chronology" /> Historically SACU was administered by South Africa, through the 1910 and 1969 Agreements. The customs union collected duties on local production and customs duties on members' imports from outside SACU.

As of 2007, the Executive Secretary of the SACU was Tswelopele C. Moremi. Paulina Mbala Elago, a Namibian national, became executive secretary on 1 April 2014 for a period of five years. Thabo David Khasipe was appointed as executive secretary on 1 February 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |author-link=Southern African Customs Union |date=February 2023 |title=APPOINTMENT OF MR. THABO DAVID KHASIPE AS THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF SACU |url=https://sacu.int/docs/pr/2023/NEW-Executive-Secretary-Appointment.pdf}}</ref>

== Member states ==
{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none;"
|+ Member states surface area and populations<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Population by sex, annual rate of population increase, surface area and density |url=http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2012/Table03.pdf |journal=United Nations Statistics Division |pages=1–2 |access-date=27 January 2017}}</ref>
! Country
! Area
(km<sup>2</sup>)<ref>World Bank. 2022. ''Land area (sq. km) – South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Eswatini''. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.SRF.TOTL.K2?end=2021&locations=ZA-BW-LS-NA-SZ&start=2021&type=shaded&view=map&year=2020 Date of access: 9 July 2023</ref>
! Population
|-
| {{Flag|Botswana}}
| 581,730
| 2,630,296
|-
| {{flag|Eswatini}}
| 17,360
| 1,201,670
|-
| {{flag|Lesotho}}
| 30,360
| 2,305,825
|-
| {{flag|Namibia}}
| 824,290
| 2,567,012
|-
| {{flag|South Africa}}
| 1,219,090
| 59,893,885
|}

== Functions and organisation ==
The union meets annually to discuss matters related to the Agreement. In addition, the Customs Technical Liaison Committee, the Trade and Industry Liaison committee and the Ad hoc Sub-Committee on Agriculture each meet three times a year.

Its aim is to maintain the free interchange of goods between member countries. It provides for a [[common external tariff]] and a common excise tariff to this common customs area. All customs and excise collected in the common customs area are paid into South Africa's National Revenue Fund. The revenue is shared among members according to a revenue-sharing formula, as described in the agreement. South Africa is the custodian of this pool. Only the [[BLNS Countries|BLNS]] Member states' shares are calculated, with South Africa retaining the residual. SACU revenue constitutes a substantial share of the state revenue of the BLNS countries.

== Developments and structure ==
{{Politics of the African Union mini|financial|width=5em}}
Following the formation of the Government of National Unity in South Africa in April 1994, member states concurred that the existing agreement should be renegotiated to democratise SACU and address needs of the SACU member states more effectively. With this in mind, the Ministers of Trade and Industry of the five member states met in [[Pretoria]] on 11 November 1994 to discuss the renegotiation of the 1969 agreement. The Ministers appointed a Customs Union Task Team (CUTT), which was mandated to make recommendations to the Ministers. CUTT has met on numerous occasions in the member states, and declares that good progress has been made in the renegotiation process.

At a meeting of Ministers of Trade and Finance Departments from the SACU member states, held in Centurion, Pretoria on 5 September 2000, the Ministers reached consensus on the principles underpinning institutional reform in the SACU. The institutional administrative structure of the revenue pool was agreed as follows:

:;Council of Ministers: Consisting of one minister from each SACU member state, it would be the supreme SACU decision-making body and would meet quarterly. The decisions taken by this council would only be by consensus.
:;Commission: An administrative body composed of senior officials, three technical liaison committees and an established Agricultural Liaison Committee.
:;Tribunal: An independent body of experts. It would report directly to the Council of Ministers. The tribunal would be responsible for tariff-setting and the anti-dumping mechanism.
:;Secretariat: Responsible for day-to-day operations of the pool. It would be funded from the revenue pool. Its location would be determined by senior officials who were directed to meet after one month to develop proposals for the implementation of the revised SACU institutional structure.

SACU ministers further agreed that the revenue share accruing to each member state should be calculated from three basic components:
* a share of the customs pool;
* a share of the excise pool; and
* a share of a development component.

By agreement, these components would be distributed as follows:
* The customs component, allocated according to each country's share of total intra-SACU trade, including re-exports.
* The excise component, net of the development component, allocated on the basis of GDP.
* The development component, fixed at 15% of the total excise pool and distributed to all SACU members in an inverse proportion to each country's GDP/capita.

While SACU entered into a free trade deal with the four-nation [[European Free Trade Association]] on 1 July 2006, its negotiations with the United States for a [[free-trade area|free trade agreement]] have stalled (as of 8 January 2008).<ref>[http://ustr.gov/Trade_Agreements/Bilateral/Southern_Africa_FTA/Section_Index.html USTR – Southern African Customs Union Free Trade Agreement] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090420102658/http://www.ustr.gov/Trade_Agreements/Bilateral/Southern_Africa_FTA/Section_Index.html |date=20 April 2009 }}</ref>

SACU is involved in negotiations for a free trade agreement – the [[Economic Partnership Agreements]] (EPAs) – with the EU, and the organisation corresponded with the [[EU Trade Commissioner]], [[Karel De Gucht]], between February and March 2010, to request that the EU not demand ratification and implementation of the EPAs at the next round of negotiations without the concerns of the SACU countries being addressed. De Gucht replied that he would like to {{qi|invite the SADC EPA countries concerned to swiftly complete signature, notification and implementation of the interim EPA}} and that {{qi|in the meantime, the EU is more than willing to address all pending issues and concerns.}}<ref>{{Cite web |date=3 May 2010 |title=EU dismiss concerns of Southern African customs union |url=http://stiffkitten.wordpress.com/2010/05/03/eu-dismiss-concerns-of-southern-african-customs-union |access-date=6 April 2018 |website=wordpress.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Letter from SACU to De Gucht, 11 February 2010 |url=http://www.afrika.dk/files/SACU%20Letter%20to%20the%20EU%20Trade%20Commissioner%2011%20Feb.10-3.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719121513/http://www.afrika.dk/files/SACU%20Letter%20to%20the%20EU%20Trade%20Commissioner%2011%20Feb.10-3.pdf |archive-date=19 July 2011 |access-date=6 April 2018 |website=afrika.dk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Letter from De Gucht to SACU, 31 March 2010 |url=http://www.afrika.dk/files/Letter%20from%20Karel%20De%20Gucht%2031%20Mars%202010.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719121454/http://www.afrika.dk/files/Letter%20from%20Karel%20De%20Gucht%2031%20Mars%202010.pdf |archive-date=19 July 2011 |access-date=6 April 2018 |website=afrika.dk}}</ref>

== Comparison with other regional blocs ==
[[File:SACU Headquarters.jpg|thumb|right|SACU headquarters in [[Windhoek]]]]

{{African Economic Community}}

== See also ==
* [[1903 Southern African Customs Union Agreement]]
* [[Trade bloc]]
* [[Common Monetary Area]]
* [[Southern African Development Community]] (SADC)
* [[Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa]] (COMESA)
* [[Rules of origin]]
* [[Market access]]
* [[Free-trade area]]
* [[Tariff]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Official website}}
* [http://www.dfa.gov.za/foreign/Multilateral/africa/sacu.htm Explanatory website from the South African government]
* [http://agritrade.cta.int/Regions/ACP/Southern-Africa ''Agritrade'' website covering trade issues in southern Africa]

{{SACU}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Organizations established in 1910]]
[[Category:Organisations related to Southern Africa]]
[[Category:Customs unions]]
[[Category:Southern African Development Community]]
[[Category:Foreign relations of South Africa]]
[[Category:Intergovernmental organizations established by treaty]]
[[Category:Foreign trade of South Africa]]
[[Category:1910 establishments in Africa]]