U.S.-SACU TICA UNDERWAY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRETORIA 000513 SIPDIS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SIPDIS DEPT PLEASE PASS TO USTR FOR P. COLEMAN USDA FOR FAS/OFFICE OF NEGOTIATIONS/ROBERT RIEMENSCHNEIDER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ETRD EFIN EINV SF SUBJECT: U.S.-SACU TICA UNDERWAY REF: 06 PRETORIA 04399 PRETORIA 00000513 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: U.S. and SACU trade negotiators agreed to begin work on a Trade and Investment Cooperation Agreement (TICA) during a meeting on February 2, 2006. The parties agreed to work in four key areas: customs cooperation, sanitary and phyto-sanitary (SPS) issues, technical barriers to trade (TBT),and trade and investment promotion activities. The agreement to pursue talks and to form working groups on the agreed areas will be placed in a draft paper that both parties will aim to complete before the next AGOA forum in July. The negotiators also agreed to clarify legal issues regarding mechanisms for formalizing U.S.-SACU understandings in each key area. End Summary. -------------- U.S. MEETS SACU -------------- ¶2. (SBU) AUSTR Florizelle Liser and USTR's Director of African Affairs Patrick Coleman met with SACU trade officials in Pretoria on February 2 to begin exploratory talks on a U.S.-SACU TICA. USTR's team was accompanied by Economic Counselor, Agricultural Counselor, Commercial Counselor and Econoffs. The SACU team, led by South African trade negotiator Xavier Carim, opened the meeting by expressing the importance SACU placed on continued trade ties with the U.S. Carim highlighted two main issues which needed to be addressed in order to move forward: the specific issues to be covered by the agreement and the broad structure and level of engagement on the TICA. -------------- KEY AREAS FOR NEGOTIATIONS -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Drawing on a USTR proposal submitted to SACU in April 2006, Carim suggested four specific areas for coopeative work under the proposed TICA: customs cooperation, sanitary/phyto-sanitary (SPS) issues, technical barriers to trade (TBT),and trade and investment promotion activities. Both sides agreed that these issues were important and could be constructively addressed in the proposed TICA, especially as negotiators could build on earlier discussions that occurred during the FTA talks. SACU agreed to draft a paper laying out the parties' agreement to pursue a framework for undertaking a work program in these four areas to be officially adopted at the next AGOA forum in July. Working groups would be formed and begin work soon thereafter. -------------- BROAD FRAMEWORK FOR THE TICA -------------- ¶4. (SBU) All parties concurred that agreements under the proposed TICA could take any number of different forms, such as memoranda of understanding, executive agreements, or cooperative work depending on the specific issue and the intent of the parties. SACU requested clarity as to the legal effects of each of the possible mechanisms, which USTR agreed to provide. SACU also raised the concern that the TICA name did not incorporate the term "development" and will suggest a proposed revision to the TICA title. ¶5. (SBU) At the close of the session, Carim asked that no press release be issued about the day's discussions because SACU members had yet not announced that TICA talks were underway. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶6. (SBU) SACU took more than six months to respond to USTR's proposal to initiate discussions on a TICA (reftel). However, SACU came prepared to this first meeting and agreed to move quickly towards negotiations. The timeliness of SACU's draft paper and work program will be the best PRETORIA 00000513 002.2 OF 002 indicator as to whether actual negotiations will truly take off following the AGOA forum. ¶7. (U) This cable was cleared by USTR Director of African Affairs, Patrick Coleman. BOST