Southern African Customs Union (SACU)- as amended in 2013

The Southern African Customs Union (SACU) agreement was put into force. The Agreement, which was last amended in 2013, came into force in its current format in September 2016. 

It fully or partially eliminates import duties for most energy products and technologies, mostly taking South African customs tariff as a reference, including: 

• Electric motors, turbines and generators; 
• Mechanical equipment including pumps, appliances, and other advanced machinery; 
• Electric accumulators, transformers, capacitors, batteries; 
• Motor vehicles; 
• Mineral ore, slag and ash; 
• Mineral fuels, oils and other products; 
• Metals and their articles e.g. iron and steel; 
• Semiconductors devices and photovoltaic cells; 

The Agreement also establishes common excise and ad valorem excise duties and specific customs and ad valorem customs duties to be applied to goods grown, produced or manufactured in or imported into SACU. Customs and excise duty revenues collected by the four members are pooled. 

Rules of origin delineated in the Agreement state that goods grown, produced or manufactured in the Common Customs
Area, on importation from the area of one Member State to the area of another Member State, benefit from preferential tariff treatment. Goods imported at a specific preferential tariff by a Member State due to a trade agreement with external Parties and exported to another Member State are however subject to the SACU import duty. Leeway is also provided for implementing temporary additional national-level import duties in favour of domestic "infant industries".

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