Research On The Legal System Of The Southern Africa Customs Union

As one typical representative of numerous regional economic integration organizations in Africa, trade volume between the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and China has been growing. It is urgent for our government and scholars to acknowledge and study the related policies and legislation of SACU in order to provide reference for Chinese companies or citizens to open up the SACU market and better protect their own legal interests and mutual benefits. However, from the author's available information, no domestic scholars had introduced or researched the relevant situations of SACU in the form of monograph. In the era of regional economic integration, as the strategic situation of Africa is growing more and more important, China's scholar legal research on SACU should be strengthened urgently.SACU was formally established in 1910. Since then in 1969 and 2002 respectively, the organization which has experienced the member states' independence and reapportionment of inner power made major adjustments in the field of the agreement of the organization. It has made new system of administration and procedure. The 2002 SACU Agreement is the essential basis for the organization to make decisions.The2002 SACU Agreement redistricted in-house administration authority and adjusted the distribution method of the organization's common revenue through three systems: trade liberalization, common revenue pool and common policies. Substantive systems include trade liberalization and common revenue pool. This paper will analyze the related clauses of the 2002 SACU Agreement in accordance with its past regulations and try to sort out the differences and changes of the regulations. Procedural system is mainly pointed to regulations on common policies in every member state of SACU, including industry policies and strategy, agriculture policies, competition policies and measures on unfair competition, etc. So far, the member states have discussed their present policies in order to expatiate the frame work of SACU's common policies and its necessary elements.African countries have been considered as the synonymous of penury. However, the member states of SACU have had a faster development compared with the past when they had not forged an alliance. SACU has grown to an infusive regional economic integration organization in Africa now. Although some problems such as the overdependence of the member states'GDP towards distribution of the common revenue still exist, generally speaking, the organization's future is bright. China is now negotiating with the SACU on the issue of Sino-SACU FTA. It will go far towards both parties if problems are to be resolved as soon as possible. The author hopes to offer help to the companies or citizens to get useful information through the general introduction on SACU.