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Business Reporter
The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa has implored its member states to start the ratification process of COMESA–EAC-SADC Tripartite Free Trade Area Agreement. The Tripartite FTA was launched on June 10, 2015 in Sharm El Shiekh, Egypt, setting the stage for the establishment of a single market for 26 African countries in the Eastern and Southern African region.
Currently 16 countries out of 26 in COMESA, East African Community and Southern African Development Community signed the Tripartite FTA but are yet to ratify. The COMESA Council of Ministers which met recently in Zambia appreciated progress made in the negotiations process that include finalising the outstanding work in Phase I relating to Rules of Origin, elimination of import duties and trade remedies.
“Member states should ensure that outstanding issues from Phase I negotiations are finalised within the 12 months from June 2015 as decided by the Tripartite Council of Ministers. Negotiations continue in parallel to Phase II negotiations covering trade in services, competition policy, intellectual property rights and other trade related issues,” according to the report of the Council,” said the report made by the Council of Ministers.
With regard to movement of business persons, the Council noted that although the negotiation process could not be finalised, it was on course on a separate but parallel track with the Phase II negotiations.
A draft Tripartite Agreement has been developed and more work on this track is set to continue in phase II negotiations. The Council told member states to adopt more liberal provisions for the movement of business persons to facilitate trade and investment across borders.
The Council also noted that seven of the 10 annexes that contain issues under negotiation have been finalised. The outstanding issues are tariff elimination schedules (annex I) trade remedies (annex II) and rules of origin (annex IV).
“The main TFTA Agreement and the following annexes have undergone legal scrubbing: annex V on customs cooperation, annex III on non-tariff barriers, annex VI on trade facilitation, annex VII on transit trade and transit facilitation, annex VIII on technical barriers to trade and annex IX on sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures,” said the report.
A total of 20 tariff offers have been tabled and the Tripartite Task Force is in the process of populating annex I of the TFTA Agreement based on the offers made so far.
Work on the Tripartite Dispute Settlement mechanism has also been finalised while that on trade remedies will continue as part of the Built-In Agenda.
Work on the Tripartite Industrial Development Pillar is also on-going and the relevant committee has, among other things, developed the modalities for co-operation in industrial development.
As a way forward, the Council urged COMESA member states to offer the COMESA Free Trade Area tariff concessions to other Tripartite Member/Partner States on reciprocal basis.
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