Parliament's portfolio committee on trade and industry said on Wednesday it had unanimously supported approval of the economic partnership agreement (EPA) between the Southern African Customs Union and Mozambique (SACUM) and the United Kingdom.
The agreement aims to provide stability for the trading relationship between SACUM member countries and the UK once it formally exits the European Union and can no longer utilise the existing trading agreement between the EU and SACUM.
The UK is currently grappling with the modalities of its withdrawal from the EU, known as Brexit, whose deadline has been extended to next year from October 31.
The SACUM-UK deal maintains duty-free quota-free access for SACUM countries to Britain, other than South Africa.
South Africa will maintain its tariff rate quotas as currently provided for under a Southern African Development Community-EU economic partnership agreement and has secured favourable quotas for market access into the UK, particularly for sugar and wine.
The latest agreement will provide peace of mind and a secure regulatory environment to operate in, the parliament committee's chairperson, Duma Nkosi, said.
"South Africa has a positive trade relationship with the UK and the committee welcomes efforts to maintain and grow this relationship," he said in a statement.
"The committee emphasised that South African exporters should exploit these opportunities and seek to diversify the export basket to more value-added products."