VZCZCXRO4881
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSA #0513/01 0431351
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 121351Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY PRETORIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8150
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHOR/AMEMBASSY GABORONE 4882
RUEHMR/AMEMBASSY MASERU 2437
RUEHMB/AMEMBASSY MBABANE 4108
RUEHWD/AMEMBASSY WINDHOEK 4661
RUEHTN/AMCONSUL CAPE TOWN 3941
RUEHDU/AMCONSUL DURBAN 8567
RUEHJO/AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG 6176
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC

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