Southern African Customs Union PDF

…Regions interact with other regions Southern African Customs Union The Southern African Customs Union is a customs union among five countries of Southern Africa: Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. Its headquarters are in the Namibian capital, Windhoek. It was established in 1910...

…Regions interact with other regions Southern African Customs Union The Southern African Customs Union is a customs union among five countries of Southern Africa: Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. Its headquarters are in the Namibian capital, Windhoek. It was established in 1910 Promote the integration of Member States into the global economy through enhanced trade and investment; facilitate the equitable sharing of revenue arising from customs, excise and additional duties levied by Member States; and. facilitate the development of common policies and strategies. Its aim is to maintain the free interchange of goods between member countries. It provides for a common external tariff and a common excise tariff to this common customs area. All customs and excise collected in the common customs area are paid into South Africa's National Revenue Fund. The revenue is shared among members according to a revenue-sharing formula, as described in the agreement. South Africa is the custodian of this pool. Only the BLNS Member states' shares are calculated, with South Africa retaining the residual. SACU revenue constitutes a substantial share of the state revenue of the BLNS countries. >>> An excise tax is a legislated tax on specific goods or services at the time they are purchased. They're intranational taxes imposed within a government - The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is a Regional Economic Community comprising 16 Member States; Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The main objectives of SADC are to achieve economic development, peace and security, and growth, alleviate poverty, enhance the standard and quality of life of the peoples of Southern Africa, and support the socially disadvantaged through Regional Integration. Transfrontier parks Park is an area comprising two areas, which border each other across international boundaries and whose primary focus is wildlife conservation. Authorities responsible for the respective areas formally agree to manage the areas as one integrated unit according to a streamlined management plan. The authorities also undertake to remove all human barriers within the transfrontier park so that animals can roam freely. Transfrontier conservation areas A transfrontier conservation area (TFCA) on the other hand usually refers to a cross-border region whose different component areas have different forms of conservation status such as national parks, private game reserves, communal natural resource management areas and even hunting concession areas. Although fences, major highways, railway lines or other forms of barriers may separate the various parts, these areas nevertheless border each other and are jointly managed for long-term sustainable use of natural resources. As opposed to Transfrontier Parks, free movement of animals between the different parts that constitute a Transfrontier Conservation Area may not always be possible. Strategic objective The establishment and development of Transfrontier Conservation Areas as a vehicle for conservation and sustainable use of biological and cultural resources has the objective of facilitating and promoting regional peace, co-operation and socio-economic development. It taps on the notion that nature knows no boundaries. Community involvement is key to the success of the TFCA programme. With their involvement the TFCA's are bestowed with the legitimacy that they deserve. From a tourism point of view, it is envisaged that transfrontier parks and transfrontier conservation areas will enable tourists to drive across international boundaries into adjoining conservation areas of participating countries with minimal hurdles or bother. Equally important, it is anticipated that these transfrontier parks and transfrontier conservation areas will provide jobs and revenue generating opportunities for many local people living within and around them. It sounds logical therefore to presuppose that improving the lives of rural communities will in turn further contribute towards biodiversity conservation by demonstrating the economic and social advantages that can be achieved through wildlife conservation. It is important to understand that the vision of cross- border collaboration gives effect to the stated objectives of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which aims at promoting synergy in regional initiatives for economic, social and conservation benefits over the subcontinent. In this context, it can be said that the establishment, development and management of transfrontier conservation areas forms part of broader aims of trans- boundary ecosystem management, integration of conservation with development, promoting regional cooperation and socio-economic development in the Southern African sub-continent. Furthermore the TFCA programme forms an integral part of New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), which also aims to bring Africans together.