Chronicle Editor
Oliver Kazunga, Senior Business Reporter
THE tripartite partners in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) have agreed to collaborate towards establishing legally binding standards aimed at boosting intra-regional trade.
In a latest statement, the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) said the smooth movement of goods and people across countries’ borders was vital as it stressed the need to remove bottlenecks that hinder intra-regional trade.
“That is why Sadc together with its tripartite partners in Comesa and the East African Community (EAC) is working flat out to have legally binding standards to be met in all member and partner States to ensure minimum disruption of movement of goods and people during Covid-19 period,” reads the statement.
“Under the Comesa-Sadc-EAC tripartite arrangement, harmonised guidelines to facilitate transportation and trade of goods and services in the region have been developed to ensure that there is smooth movement of goods and people from one region to the other through a uniform set of laws that are hassle-free for transporters and travellers, resulting in greater benefits to the people of the region.”
The Comesa, EAC and Sadc member and partner States represent 53 percent of the African Union membership, constitute over US$1,4 trillion Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is about 60 percent of African continental GDP.
The three blocs have a combined estimated population of 800 million, making the tripartite region an important building block for the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area.
Road transport agreements and model laws/principles are among the guidelines that have been developed and adopted to ensure a coordinated and harmonised transport system to ease the movement of people and goods across the regions.
The Comesa-EAC-Sadc model laws and regulations for Vehicle Load Management (VLMA), Cross Border Road Transport, Road Traffic, Road Traffic and Transport Transgressions and the Transport of Dangerous Goods by Road were developed and approved by Tripartite Committee of Ministers in June 2021.
This means that transporters moving people or goods across the tripartite region have to recognise and abide by these laws to ensure their smooth movement.
The model laws are coordinated and managed through the Tripartite Transport and Transit Facilitation Programme (TTTFP) funded by the European Union.
The TTTFP provides a harmonised legal, regulatory and system framework for Comesa-Sadc-EAC member and partner States to implement the harmonised minimum standards in cross border road transportation under the Multilateral Cross Border Road Transport Agreement (MCBRTA) and Vehicle Load Management Agreement (VLMA).
The TTTFP, which commenced in 2017 and was originally designed for five years ending November 2021, was extended to May 2023 to address delays occasioned by extended negotiations and consultations on the legal instruments and Covid-19 pandemic disruptions 2021.
– @KazungaOliver
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter