On 9 October 2019, in London, the United Kingdom, the SACU member states (Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa) and Mozambique sign the SACUM–UK Economic Partnership Agreement, intended to ensure trade continuity after Brexit.

The agreement largely replicates the EU–SADC EPA regime: tariff elimination for most SACUM goods into the UK and reciprocal preferential access. Negotiations had concluded on 8 September 2019 in Gaborone.

It entered into force on 31 December 2020. The text was laid before the UK Parliament as Miscellaneous Series No. 34 (2019).

The official text is on GOV.UK.

For post-Brexit trade, 9 October 2019 marks the London SACUM–UK signature.

The document is available on assets.publishing.service.gov.uk.

The SACUM–UK EPA of 9 October 2019 remains the milestone of UK–southern Africa trade continuity.

Image: London / southern Africa; Wikimedia Commons. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: SACUM–UK EPA. Treaty text: GOV.UK — SACUM–UK EPA.