With greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions coming to the fore of nations’ climate policy concerns, the wine industry faces a new challenge. Viniculture (grape cultivation for winemaking) is directly susceptible to climate change impacts due to grapevines being highly sensitive to the surrounding environment, such as changes in weather patterns. In addition, the industry…"

The Conversation - 26 May 2020 by Faizel Ismail Read online at The Conversation"

The Politics of Trade in the Era of Hyperglobalisation: A Southern African Perspective Author: Rob Davies* Matters of international trade are increasingly widely recognised as major shapers of global politics. News bulletins are giving more and more coverage to matters like the so-called “trade wars” between the United States and China. These are,…"

Customs are charged with ensuring maximum trade facilitation and decreasing the time and costs associated with clearing consignments into and out of the country. Non-compliance and customs fraud are, however, on the rise through multiple channels including misdeclaration of goods, under and overvaluation, misrepresentation of country of origin, round tripping, and counterfeit goods.…"

This paper looks at the future of South Africa-United Kingdom trade relations in the post-Brexit period. It provides a brief background and looks at the history of trade relations until the onset of democracy in1994. It then looks at SA-UK trade relations since 1994, including the negotiations the led to the Southern African…"

This paper argues that adopting a “developmental regionalism” approach to trade integration provides the best prospects for the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) to catalyse the process of transformative industrial development, cross-border investment and democracy, governance, peace and security in Africa. It also looks at the progress being made by African countries…"

South Africa’s motorcycle industry is waning while other emerging markets are expanding their production activity, usage and trade performance, and are developing integrated value chains for motorcycles. South Africa is a net importer of motorcycles and imports have been declining for the past five years. No local manufacturing is taking place and the…"

This policy brief provides context for technical regulation in the region. It then offers some cross-cutting solutions for developing monitoring mechanisms that can allow policymakers to identify problem areas, and some specific interventions for the Standards, Accreditation and Metrology functions that can build capacity at low cost. It provides some recommendations for a…"

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is a non-reciprocal preferential trade programme that the US offers to 49 sub-Saharan African countries. President Obama's decision to extend AGOA, which was set to expire at the end of September 2015, for another 10 years (2015 to 2025), was highly controversial. The Extension and Enhancement…"

This paper argues that the dramatic changes in the trade architecture of the world during the first decade of the new millennium have created both opportunities and challenges for Africa’s development. African countries need to develop proactive strategies to harness these new changes and use them to advance the integration of the African…"

Presentation and Panel Discussion: Faizel Ismail – TIPS and UCT: AGOA - A Game of Chicken Malose Letsoalo – Department of Trade and IndustrY Christopher Wood – TIPS: Making the Best of AGOA through Export Promotion Policies Tinashe Kapuya - Agricultural Business Chamber: An Agriculture Industry Perspective Background The importance of exporting to…"

This paper reviews the state of play of the African regional integration agenda, inspired by the vision of the Abuja Treaty and Agenda 2063. It argues that the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) negotiators should adopt a “development integration” approach to ensure that the outcome of the CFTA benefits all its members. Towards…"

Ten years is a very short time in the global economy, and by all accounts a decade is all that is left of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). While the United States’ unilateral preferential access programme for Africa has been reauthorized three times since it began in 2000, it looks very…"

What are the main changes in the global trading architecture over the past 15 years? How have these changes impacted on Africa’s economic development and the nature of trading relations between Africa and its traditional developed country partners, the European Union, the UK and the USA, and its main developing country partner, China? What are the implications of 'Brexit' -…"

Asia has been an important export market for South Africa’s trade-induced industrialisation strategy, China being the country’s main trading partner in that region. This case study explores the potential of increasing trade with other Asian countries such as Indonesia, rather than focussing mainly on China. The case study details potential opportunities for a range…"

Session 4: Market integration and trade Paper to follow"

Session 4: Market integration and trade Industrial development concerns have now become a priority focus in Africa. This is, in some measure, prompted by developments in commodities sectors, where the need for beneficiation of minerals and value addition of the continent's natural resources is enjoying priority focus. There is also recognition that a…"

Technical regulations lay down compulsory requirements for product or service characteristics or their related processes and production methods. They have specific administrative provisions and conformity assessment requirements with which compliance is mandatory for safety, health, environmental control and consumer protection. The capacity to comply with international standards, norms and technical regulations underpins the potential for economic…"

As vessels and seaports - conduits for international trade growth, serving over 90% of world commerce - ascend to ever greater significance in a cost-conscious world reeling from the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis, the concepts of port efficiency and productivity matter more and more, especially in configuring optimal port designs.…"

Promoting exports to develop manufacturing remains a key growth strategy in the National Development Plan. Super-exporters dominate almost all South Africa's export sectors. They are the main drivers of export growth and they define the country's export structure. However, despite their dominance, super-exporters have been losing dynamism and competitiveness, with 93% of these…"