Accredited traders in Namibia, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, and South Africa will now benefit from reduced trade costs and simplified import-export procedures.

This positive development is the result of a mutual recognition arrangement signed by the five member states of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU).

Through the agreement, the Commissioners General of Revenue Authorities in the five countries agreed to recognise one another's authorised economic operators (AEO).

The AEO programme is a flagship customs-business partnership programme meant to benefit both parties by offering opportunities for customs authorities to share their compliance and security responsibilities with the private sector.

At the same time, the department may then reward companies through several trade facilitation benefits it has in place.

The Commissioners General committed themselves to facilitate cross-regional trade to ensure the success of the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement by exploring all the opportunities it presents and being alert to respond to all its risks.

They also committed to ensuring that the AEO programme contributes towards the vision of further deepening Africa's connectivity to global trade networks to leverage the opportunities for economic development presented by such integration.

The SACU leaders said they believe in partnerships to improve the entire trade eco-system in support of voluntary compliance.

It is also believed that the agreement will further boost trade opportunities and contribute to the smooth flow of goods between SACU countries.

In addition, the agreement would also strengthen end-to-end supply chain security for trade in goods by promoting multi-layered risk management and providing facilitation benefits to accredited traders.