Southern African Customs Union

From Freepedia

The Southern African Customs Union has five members:

The current Union came into effect in 1970; however its concept dates back to colonial days (1910). Under its rules, South Africa collects levies from customs, sales, and excise duties for all five members, sharing out proceeds based on each country's portion of imports.

At the end of 2004 it was negotiating a Free Trade deal with the USA. A Free Trade deal is scheduled to be signed between it and Iceland in November 2005 and to become active in the beginning of 2006.