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on Trade, more than doubling in absolute terms between the years 2000
and 2009. Intra-SADC trade has substantially increased to more than
20 percent of the total regional trade.
One of the major benefits of the SADC FTA is that it has
allowed citizens in the region to get better products at lower prices
due to increased production, while producers are benefiting from
tariff-free trade for most goods originating within the region, ex-
cept for some that are protected.

Trade Facilitation
One of the achievements under trade facilitation was the approval
of the Simplified Trade Regime (STR) Framework in 2019. The
STR Framework aims to reduce barriers to trade by simplifying the
customs procedures and processes. The SADC Electronic Certificate
of Origin (e-CoO) Framework was approved in August 2019 and seeks
to enable traders to apply for the certificate of origin electronically. The
E-CoO was launched on a pilot basis in Botswana, Eswatini, Malawi, Nami-
bia, Tanzania and Zambia in 2020.
Another milestone under trade facilitation is the SADC Regional Customs Tran-
sit Guarantee Regulations which were approved in 2013. The regulations are intended to
facilitate the movement of goods, reducing transaction costs, increasing the level of com-
petitiveness of regional producers, and supporting removal of non-tariff barriers.
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Strengthened Regional and Continental Cooperation
The realisation of an FTA in 2008 was envisaged to progress into the launch of a Customs
Union by 2010, followed by a Common Market by 2015, a Monetary Union by 2016 and
ultimately, a Single Currency by 2018. However, these targets have proved elusive as the re-
gion first sought to consolidate the FTA in line with a new developmental approach to inte-
gration that focuses on sectoral cooperation, industrialisation and infrastructure development.
In this process however, SADC has strengthened its
trade cooperation with other regional and continental coun-
tries. For example, in 2015, SADC together with the Com-
mon Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)
and the East African Community (EAC) launched the Tri-
partite Free Trade Area (TFTA) to promote economic de-
velopment and integration in east and southern Africa.
In May 2019, SADC also joined forces with other
African countries to establish the African Continental Free
Trade Area (AfCFTA) that will open up access to a US$3
trillion market of 1.2 billion consumers. According to the
African Union, the AfCFTA is expected to increase Afri-
can intra-regional trade from the present 10 percent to
about 40 percent.

Movement of Persons
SADC has developed a Protocol on the Facilitation of
Movement of Persons within the region in order to re-
move obstacles in the movement of people and facilitate
the flow of regular migrants across the region. The pro-
tocol was signed in 2005 by nine Member States and had
been ratified by six Member States as of June 2020.