Lome -Togo — The joint meeting of the ECOWAS-UEMOA Committee for the Management of ECOWAS Common External Tariff has ended in Lome with the adoption of a Common External Tariff (CET) nomenclature for West Africa, based on the 2007 version of the Harmonized System Nomenclature.
The nomenclature, an orderly system of description and coding of goods to be used in international trade by Member States, was adopted taking into account certain agreed principles for the economic and industrial development of the region. The CET lays the foundation for a regional customs union, which implementation will accelerate economic and industrial growth in West Africa. A critical step for establishing a free trade area in the region, the ECOWAS CET was based on that of the Economic and Monetary Union of West Africa (UEMOA), the eight-member francophone sub-regional organization, as a four- band tariff of zero per, five per cent, 10 per cent and 20 per cent before the addition of a fifth band of 35 per cent. Categorization of products is done as follows: Zero per cent for essential social commodities, raw materials and capital goods; 10 per cent for intermediate products, 20 per cent for consumer goods and 35 per cent for specific goods for economic development in the fifth band.
The addition of a 5th tariff band to the structure of the CET in 2008 led to a review of the product re-categorization methodology to enable Member States submit to the ECOWAS Commission, their lists of products deemed "specific goods for economic development", classifiable under the 5th band. While addressing participants at the close of the meeting, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Trade, Customs, Industry and Mines, Free Movement of Persons and Tourism, Alhaji Mohammed Daramy, elaborated on the criteria for the selection of products into the 5th tariff band. He drew the Committee's attention to West Africa's trade interests, which he said are mainly focused on the promotion of exports and economic diversification as well as enhancement of domestic supply capacity. Commissioner Daramy stressed the need for good trade governance, if trade must be integrated into the principles of sustainable development.
In this regard, he identified certain principles necessary for good governance. They include ensuring transparency through providing stakeholders with access to relevant and accurate information, ensuring accountability for decision and actions which are based on comprehensive and reliable analysis, encouraging cooperation in order to build trust and shared goals and values as well as ensuring that decisions are made at the appropriate level, taking into consideration the principle of subsidiarity, where possible. He decried current national approaches to trade reforms, which he stated were insufficient "when examined from the point of view of unhealthy competition between Member States, maintenance of multiple regulatory and administrative bottlenecks".
"I must reiterate that the economic and trade integration of West Africa cannot occur by chance and neither will beneficial and sustainable development of trade in West Africa be accomplished by chance", warned Commissioner Daramy. He assured participants that the ECOWAS and UEMOA Commissions were determined to forge partnership with Member States and other stakeholders to initiate programmes for a sustained and integrated action in order to develop and regulate trade in West Africa. "Our mission is to accelerate the integration of West Africa's trade policies and regulations and to be able to attract the trade sector investment needed to create wealth for the citizens, while protecting and enhancing the social life and the environment of the local trading communities", said the Commissioner.
