re-negotiation of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) agreement and negotiations to consolidate the Southern African Development Community (SADC). SACU enjoins South Africa with Lesotho, Botswana, Namibia and Swaziland in a customs union – the oldest in the world – where goods flow free of any tariff duties. South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland and Namibia are further integrated through the Common Monetary Area where currencies are pegged and are freely convertible. Aside from strong cooperation on security, international relations, the SADC agenda has been shaped by the negotiation and implementation of the Trade Protocol in 2000. South Africa, the Chair of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) for the period July 2010-July 2011, hosted the Union’s Heads of State and Government Summit in July 2010. The Summit reflected on the achievements and challenges of the Union and deliberated on its future strategic direction in view of recent regional and global developments. South Africa remains committed to contributing to the realisation of the new vision for SACU; an economic community with equitable and sustainable development, dedicated to the welfare of its people for a common future, which was adopted and signed on 22 April 2010. South Africa supports moving SACU forward as a developmental economic community. In order to make meaningful progress, the SACU Member states have agreed to focus the work programme on a few but critical priority areas. These include (i) developing a regional industrial policy, including a trade and tariff policy; (ii) cross-border trade facilitation initiatives; (iii) the review of the revenue-sharing arrangement; (iv)establishing common institutions within an agreed policy framework; and (v) promoting a unified engagement in trade negotiations A number of interventions to integrate the sub-region’s economic activities have been put in place as part of government’s efforts to further strengthen regional economic integration in the SADC region. Within the area of competition policy, a Declaration on Regional Cooperation in Competition and Consumer Laws and Policies was signed by SADC Heads of State and Government at the 29th SADC Summit in 2009. This declaration provides for the establishment of a Standing Committee on Competition and Consumer Laws and Policy and other measures to enhance cooperation between member states on enforcement of competition and consumer laws. Progress was made in 2009 to harmonise policies so as to enhance food security in the region. SADC Agriculture Ministers re-affirmed the importance of coordinated research and endorsed the establishment of a sub-regional research organisation and further approved the MoU for the implementation of the SADC Harmonised Seed Regulatory System aimed at improving seed trade and the availability of high quality seed farmers in the region. Efforts to harmonise policies related to immigration, gender, health, science and technology and labour in the region were undertaken during 2009. 38