WEDNESDAY, 9.45AM:
The latest round of talks between the European Union and South Africa on free trade and development has been hailed as a breakthrough after the EU agreed to South Africa’s proposals for dealing with sensitive farm products, previously excluded from the negotiations, through special development protocols.
EU chief negotiator Philip Soubestre said the EU had devoted “a lot of attention” to solving problems caused by the exclusion of 39 per cent of South African farm products from the talks. Further negotiations on wines, spirits and fisheries would be held early next year.
Soubestre said he believed a free trade area was the answer to globalisation, and that the EU was prepared to assist countries facing loss of revenue through the transition. The parties plan to wrap up their negotiations towards a comprehensive bilateral agreement by the middle of next year.