Agreement Establishing a Free Trade Area

Between the three blocks and the latest developments

The emergence of the three blocs

The idea of ​​the regional integration of the African continent arose from the 1980 Lagos Plan of Action and the Abuja Treaty of 1991, with the proposal to establish the African Economic Community to reach the United nations of Africa with a view to rationalizing the continent's blocs to reduce the problem of double membership of nations in more than one economic bloc.

The African Union has recognized eight major African blocs: the Maghreb Union, COMESA, SIN, East African Community, ECAS, ECOWAS, IGAD and SADC.

• In this regard, the three blocs (COMESA, SADC and EAC) have begun to negotiate the establishment of a free trade area to reach a customs union.

Member States in each of the three blocs

COMESA

Egypt, Sudan, Kenya, Mauritius, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Djibouti, Malawi, Madagascar, Rwanda, Burundi, Comoros, Uganda, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Seychelles, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Swaziland

East African Community

Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Uganda.

Southern African Development Community (SADC)

Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Institutional framework

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  Summit of the three blocks.

  Ministerial Council.

  Sectoral Ministerial Committees.

  Committee of senior officials.

  Trade Negotiations Forum.

  Technical work groups

Stages of negotiation:

Phase I: deals with tariff liberalization, rules of origin, customs cooperation, non-tariff restrictions, trade remedies, sanitary and phytosanitary standards, technical restrictions on trade, dispute settlement. It was determined from 24 to 36 months to complete this stage.

Phase II deals with trade in services and intellectual property rights, cross-border investment, competition, consumer protection and trade development.

The Business Facilitation Agreement is negotiated in parallel with the first phase but in separate meetings.

Position of the agreement and annexes:

• The free trade agreement was signed at the third summit of the three blocks on 10 June 2015 in Sharm el-Sheikh.

  22 countries have so far signed the agreement: Angola, Burundi, Comoros, Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Libya, South Africa Madagascar, Mauritius and Botswana signed on 30 January 2018

  With regard to ratification, both Egypt and Uganda have ratified, while Kenya reported during the meetings of the Continental Free Trade Area that ended on 18 January that it had ratified and deposited the instruments of ratification

   

   

  10 annexes have been adopted and are an integral part of the Agreement:

   

  1: Non-tariff restrictions.

  2: Sanitary and phytosanitary

  3: Technical limitations of trade.

  4: Customs Cooperation.

  5: Trade facilitation.

  6: Transit.

  7: Settlement of Disputes.

  8: Rules of origin.

  9: Trade remedy policies

  10: Cancellation of customs duties.

Status of ratification of the agreement

• The Agreement shall enter into force on the thirtieth day after the deposit of 14 instruments of ratification with the Secretariat of the three blocs by the 14 member States of the COMESA, the East African Community and the SADC.

  Egypt is the first country to ratify the agreement on 3 May 2017, followed by Kenya, Uganda and South Africa.

   

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About the Rules of Origin of the Agreement

• Detailed rules of origin for all goods are negotiated

About customs tariff models

• At the second meeting of the Ministerial Sector Committee of the three blocs held on 10 July 2013 in Mauritius, the adoption of the customs tariff reduction mechanisms for the agreement, which states as follows:

  Member States that exchange customs exemptions among themselves within the bloc will not enter into negotiations on tariff liberalization.

  Member States that do not have any exemptions or tariff reductions with each other will enter into tariff liberalization negotiations on the basis of the tariff lines listed in each country's tariff letter. It was agreed that 60% to 85% of tariff lines would be liberalized once the agreement entered into force, with countries committing to reduce 85% of tariff lines over a period of 5 to 8 years, and the remaining 15% Subject to negotiation later.

Economic and social indicators of the three blocs:

• Contribution of the three blocks to the GDP of Africa: 58%

  Gross domestic product of the three blocs: 624 million US dollars

  GDP per capita: US $ 1.184 per annum

  Population of the three blocs: 625 million

  Percentage of the population of the three blocks of the total population of the African Union: 57%

The development of indicators of Egypt's trade with the three blocs (COMESA, SADC and EAC)

during the period from 2010 to 2017

(Value in million dollars)

Source: Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics