Creating Competitiveness for Exports in Mozambique
The mandate and approach of UNCTAD aim to create an economic environment conducive to inclusive and sustainable development, supporting developing countries, particularly Least Developed Countries (LDCs), in the formulation and implementation of trade policies aligned with the achievements of the United Nations 2030 Development Agenda, particularly the Sustainable Development Goals. UNCTAD’s technical assistance activities and programmes seek to strengthen the productive and supply capacities of developing countries, with a specific focus on Africa and LDCs, to ensure positive integration into the global economy and maximise the benefits from their trade commitments at bilateral, regional, and multilateral levels.
Thus, some of the following areas of UNCTAD assistance are selected, among others:
The intervention of UNCTAD within this project is expected to contribute to building the capacity and skills of Mozambican trade officials and other relevant public and private institutions through a series of tailored training activities. This will enable them to design and implement a trade-related safeguards regime that is consistent with the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and WTO rules. UNCTAD’s intervention will assist Mozambique in addressing the multiple technical challenges related to operationalising the EPA provisions on safeguard measures. Ultimately, UNCTAD’s assistance will allow Mozambique to adopt a legislative and regulatory framework for the application of safeguards and other relevant trade remedy instruments. The project’s activities will be carried out collaboratively, involving all stakeholders, particularly the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MIC), as the focal point for this component, and UNIDO, as the overall project coordinator and implementing agency.
The main technical assistance activities under this component will address the gap in technical knowledge related to the implementation of EPA safeguard measures. Consequently, the technical assistance activities will be aimed at building a trade defence regime in Mozambique, in accordance with the EPA safeguard provisions.
Result 4 – Improved governmental knowledge of the legal and institutional framework required to apply the trade defence/safeguard articles of the EPA.
The EU-SADC Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) identifies seven (07) categories of trade defence instruments in Part II, Chapter II (Articles 32 to 38): anti-dumping and countervailing measures, multilateral safeguards, bilateral safeguards, agricultural safeguards, food security safeguards, and safeguards for the protection of infant industry. Under these provisions, the parties to the EPA are expected to administer safeguard measures in a manner consistent with WTO rules.
This result aims to contribute to supporting Mozambique’s efforts in designing and implementing a coherent and better-adapted national trade policy, focused on addressing the multiple challenges arising from the SADC-EU EPA safeguard measures and trade defence instruments, as outlined in Part II, Chapter II. UNCTAD’s intervention within this project will create the conditions to develop trade safeguard capacity in Mozambique and enable it to incorporate the EPA safeguard articles into its national legal and institutional trade framework.
The technical assistance activities under this project component will take the form of a series of intensive training courses/workshops for relevant government officials, private sector organisations, trade research institutions, and other pertinent national stakeholders. The training programme will introduce participants to the key provisions on Safeguards while maintaining links to WTO disciplines in this area to ensure the overall coherence of Mozambique’s legal obligations and trade policy, both under the EPA and the WTO.
In this context, trainees will receive both theoretical and practical learning aspects, particularly regarding the scope, objectives, and implementation issues of the EPA safeguard articles, enabling them to operationalise these provisions within Mozambique’s external trade regime. The training programme will include case studies and simulation exercises related to the technical and legal issues involved in trade remedies, including the definition and determination of cases that trigger safeguard measures, initiation of necessary procedures, including investigations, and determination of injury, among others.
The approach will be “hands-on,” allowing trainees to better understand and design safeguard measures as part of the available trade policy instruments and their intended objectives. It is expected that by the end of the project, officials will be able to establish an operational safeguards regime in Mozambique.
In addition to the specific area of safeguards, UNCTAD will also work with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and other involved institutions to strengthen the capacity of policymakers, trade negotiators, and researchers for robust trade analysis based on the exploration of various trade and market access databases (both tariff and non-tariff measures), particularly the UNCTAD TRAINS and UNCTADstat databases. The Ministry of Industry and Commerce, as well as the National Institute of Statistics and Customs, will also be introduced to trade analysis tools such as the World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS).
The overall objective is to equip Mozambican authorities with the necessary skills to design an effective trade policy and conduct investigations and litigation processes related to safeguards in a well-documented and evidence-based manner. Similarly, the acquisition of trade data and analytical capabilities will ensure the effective participation of the country in multilateral, regional, and sub-regional trade negotiations on an informed basis.
Praça 25 de Junho, Ministry of Industry and Trade, 300 – 8th floor
Rua Kibiriti Diwane, 322
Maputo city, Mozambique
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