Joint ECOWAS-UEMOA Committee Agrees Roadmap for Regional Common External Tariff

11 December 2011
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Economic Community of West African States (Abuja)
press release

Cotonou — The 11th Meeting of the Joint ECOWAS-UEMOA Committee for the Management of the ECOWAS Common External Tariff (CET) has agreed a roadmap for the finalization of a draft ECOWAS CET to be submitted to the ECOWAS Council of Ministers for adoption by end of June 2012.

The finalization of the CET, a major step in the establishment of a Customs Union under the ECOWAS integration agenda, is also critical to the conclusion of ongoing Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations between the ECOWAS and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) Commissions and the European Union. According to the roadmap agreed after the five-day 11th Joint Committee Meeting which ended in Cotonou, Benin Republic on Friday 9th December 2011, the finalization of the study on Accompanying and Safeguard Measures on the CET, by the two Commissions is scheduled for February 2012.

This will be followed by a meeting of an Ad-hoc Committee on pending issues and then the adoption of agreed proposals to be submitted to the 12th Joint Committee Meeting, also in February 2012. It is expected that by the end of March 2012, ECOWAS Tariff and Statistical Nomenclature (TSN) based on the 2012 Version of Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS 2012) would have been submitted to the World Customs Organization (WCO). This will be followed in April 2012 by the transposition of duty rates from the draft CET based on the 2007 version of the HS to the 2012 version, with the draft CET. The proposed Accompanying and Safeguard Measures are also programmed for adjustment and finalization the same month.

The Technical Committee on Trade, Customs and Free Movement of ECOWAS will then meet by the end of May 2012 to review the draft CET as well as the Accompanying and Safeguard Measures. This will be followed by a meeting of Ministers of Finance of Member States to validate the draft CET, and this will then be submitted to the ECOWAS Council of Ministers for adoption by end of June 2012. The Cotonou Joint Committee Meeting reviewed the draft CET Nomenclature based on the 2012 version of the Harmonized System and the draft ECOWAS CET put together by the ECOWAS and UEMOA Commissions after the Committee's 10th meeting in Banjul, The Gambia last April. It also examined draft instruments related to Accompanying and Safeguard Measures to be adopted by Member States during the implementation of the CET.

On behalf of the President of the ECOWAS Commission, His Excellency James Victor Gbeho, the Acting Director of Customs, ECOWAS Commission Mr. Salifou Tiemtore, expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the meeting and urged participants to seize on the momentum by ensuring that the roadmap is followed to the letter for the realization of the overall objective. He reiterated that without a CET the region would not move forward on the EPA negotiations with the EU. Speaking in the same vein, on behalf of the UEMOA Commission, the Director of Regional Market and Customs Union, Mr. Francois-Xavier Bambara thanked participants for their commitment and quality of work, and encouraged them to persevere until the achievement of the mutually beneficial CET goals.

The Director of Integration, Benin's Ministry of Economy and Finance, Mr. Badirou Nassif, who opened the meeting on behalf of the Minister, described the CET as an important trade instrument that could fast-track the integration process in the region. In accordance with Article 3 of the ECOWAS Revised Treaty, successful integration of the region depends on the creation of a common market through trade liberalization and the adoption of a Common External Tariff.

Read the original article on Ecowas.

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