Secretary of State for International Trade of United Kingdom Anne-Marie Trevelyan has launched a new scheme to cut tariffs on hundreds of products imported to the UK from developing countries. AP Photo/Steve Helber.
The Developing Countries Trading Scheme applies to 65 developing countries, offering lower tariffs and simpler rules of origin requirements for exporting to the UK to help in growing the economies of the developing nations, British authorities said in a statement on Tuesday.
Essentially, the scheme helps countries to diversify their exports and grow their economies, while British households and businesses benefit from lower prices and more choice.
The DCTS will come into force in early 2023.
The UK government says the new partnership is about understanding Africa’s needs and exploring how UK businesses can support African businesses through projects that create jobs, support inclusion and sustainability and bring lasting value.
In June, outgoing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he wanted to start a new trade system to reduce costs and simplify rules for 65 developing countries to replace the EU’s Generalised System of Preferences, which applies import duties at reduced rates.
– Examples of duty reduction include a 14% decrease for bikes from Bangladesh, 12% on T-shirts from Cambodia, 12% on baby clothes from Sri Lanka, 8% on roses from Ethiopia and 8% on onions from Senegal.
– It also removes some seasonal tariffs for goods that can’t be produced or can’t be grown in the UK at certain times of the year.
Citing a report by Punch Nigeria, acting British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Gill Atkinson, said the new scheme was to create additional access for Nigeria’s exports to the UK.
“Nigeria will automatically benefit from enhanced preferences under the DCTS. This means 99% of total goods exported from Nigeria are eligible for duty-free access to the UK, saving £500,000 on tariffs.
Punch reveals that as an example, cocoa butter exporters will save £180,000.
Africa’s import markets are forecast to undergo exponential growth – expanding more than five-fold from nearly $700 billion in 2019, to $3.9 trillion by 2050, according to Trevelyan.
Marco Forgione, director general of the Institute of Export & International Trade (IOE&IT), welcomed the move, saying:
“International trade has a key role to play in lifting people out of poverty, transforming communities and increasing sustainability. The UK’s new tariffs regime is an important step in achieving these goals.
Countries eligible
The DCTS covers 65 countries across Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas and includes some of the poorest countries in the world, according to City AM.
As announced last year, countries qualify for the DCTS if they are within the UN’s least developed country framework or the World Bank’s measure of low-income and lower-middle-income countries.
According to the BBC, the plans for the DCTS includes powers to suspend a country on the grounds of human rights or labour violations, as well as for not meeting their climate change obligations.
Africa is in business
Coal sales from South Africa to Europe rose eight-fold during the first six months of 2022 compared with last year, as demand for the fossil fuel surged ahead of a ban on Russian coal according to Thungela Resources, a South Africa-based thermal coal exporter.
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