Harmonising Regional Trade Law in the Southern African Development Community (SADC)


Book Description

This study focuses on the need to harmonise the law of international sale within the SADC region in order to facilitate international trade with the aim of fostering regional integration, economic development and alleviating poverty. This study addresses the mechanisms by which such harmonisation could be achieved by analysing three models which have been selected for this purpose, namely the CISG, the OHADA and the proposed CESL. The main issues addressed include whether SADC Member States should adopt the CISG, join OHADA, emulate the CESL or should use any of the other instruments as a model for creating a harmonised sales law for SADC. In conclusion, it is observed that SADC has its own institutional and operational mechanisms that require a process and instrument tailor-made for the unique needs of the region. It is recommended that SADC should create its own common sales law based on the CISG but taking into account lessons learnt from both the OHADA system and the CESL. A number of legislative, institutional and operational transformative and reform mechanisms are recommended to enable the creation of such a community law and ensure its uniform application and interpretation. Dr Tapiwa Shumba is a post-doctoral researcher in International commercial law at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.




Competition Policy and Regional Integration in Developing Countries


Book Description

'This wonderful volume offers a timely and important look at competition policy where it is changing the most – developing countries pursuing regional agreements. It provides superb analytical discussions of the impact of regional competition policy integration, why developing states have pursued this strategy, and the extent to which it is meeting their needs. the editors have assembled a superb roster of experts, so it is not a surprise that the book recommendations are insightful, and deserving of attention from policy makers.' – Andrew Guzman, Berkeley Law School, US This book presents a detailed study of the interface between regional integration and competition policies of selected regional trade agreements (RTAs), and the potential of regional competition laws to help developing countries achieve their development goals. the book provides insights on the regional integration experiences in developing countries, their potential for development and the role of competition law and policy in the process. Moreover, the book emphasizes the development dimension both of regional competition policies and of competition law. This timely book delivers concrete proposals that will help to unleash the potential of regional integration and regional competition policies, and also help developing countries to fully enjoy the benefits deriving from a regional market. Bringing together analysis from well-known scholars in the developed world with practical insight from scholars in countries hoping to exploit the potential of competition law, this book will appeal to academics working in the field of competition law, practitioners, policy makers and officials from developing countries, as well as those in development organizations such as UNCTAD.




Trade and Gender Linkages: an Analysis of Central America


Book Description

"This document is the eighth module in volume 1 of the teaching manual on trade and gender prepared by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The teaching manual has been developed with the aim of enhancing the capacity of policymakers, civil society organizations, and academics to assess the gender implications of trade flows and trade policy and to formulate gender-sensitive policies on gender and trade"--page 2.




Transforming Southern Africa


Book Description

This volume investigates the status of regional integration in Southern Africa. It discusses the critical challenges to be overcome and surveys the most interesting opportunities for achieving deeper regional integration.




Assessing Regional Integration in Africa V


Book Description

The fifth of the series (ARIA/V) has come at a time of renewed enthusiasm for shortening the period of the vision of the Abuja Treaty. Its overall objective is to provide an analytical research publication that defines frameworks for African Governments, the African Union and the Regional Economic Communities, towards accelerating the establishment of the African Common Market through: the speedy removal of all tariff and non-tariff barriers, obstacles to free movement of people, investments and factors of production in general across Africa, and through fast-tracking the creation of an African continental Free Trade Area




Regional Developmentalism through Law


Book Description

Offering a study of regionalism in Africa and investigating the ways in which law can be used to address the issues raised by regional processes on the continent, this book examines the African Economic Community, considering that it has been entrusted to coordinate and to harmonize policies between various Regional Economic Communities (RECs) across the continent, thereby influencing the continent’s approach towards regional integration. It seeks to identify how law can be used to strengthen the African RECs while ensuring that they achieve their goal of promoting regional development across the continent. Drawing upon economic and political theories, and using a critical doctrinal analysis of legal texts and norms, the book uncovers the legal and economic underpinnings of the model of regional integration followed by the regional schemes operating under the banner of the AEC, aiming to contribute to the search for effective methods to ensure the success of these various initiatives. Proposing the concept of "Regional Developmentalism Through Law" as the most suitable conceptual framework to support the effective establishment of an African Economic Community, this book will be of interest to researchers, academics and policy makers interested in the correlation between law, regional integration and development in Africa.







African Law(s)


Book Description

This book takes a comparative law perspective and proposes a new approach for researching law in Africa. Western theoretical perspectives in comparative law are too Eurocentric to fully catch the peculiarities and characteristics of the African “lawscape”—in short, they are inadequate for studying African law. In this book, Professor Salvatore Mancuso considers the law in Africa from a different perspective. Deeply rooted in the culture of the African people, this approach considers African legal culture with the same legitimacy as Western legal culture, setting a precedent for future policy-making decisions relating to legislative development in Africa.




Regional Integration and Migration in Africa


Book Description

This comparative book debates migration and regional integration in the two regional economic blocs, namely the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The book takes a historical and nuanced citizenship approach to integration by analysing regional integration from the perspective of non-state actors and how they negotiate various structures and institutions in their pursuit for life and livelihood in a contemporary context marked by mobility and economic fragmentation.




Regional Trade Agreements and the Multilateral Trading System


Book Description

This volume contains a collection of studies examining trade-related issues negotiated in regional trade agreements (RTAs) and how RTAs are related to the WTO's rules. While previous work has focused on subsets of RTAs, these studies are based on what is probably the largest dataset used to date, and highlight key issues that have been negotiated in all RTAs notified to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). New rules within RTAs are compared to rules agreed upon by WTO members. The extent of their divergences and the potential implications for parties to RTAs, as well as for WTO members that are not parties to RTAs, are examined. This volume makes an important contribution to the current debate on the role of the WTO in regulating international trade and how WTO rules relate to new rules being developed by RTAs.