‘Ratification delays stall AfCFTA, TFTA implementation’

THE Council of Ministers of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) has urged member states that have not yet signed and ratified the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa-East African Community-Sadc (Comesa-EAC-Sadc) Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) to do so to allow for the implementation of the agreements.

The call follows a recent virtual SADC Council meeting, which was chaired by Mozambican Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Minister, Verónica Nataniel Macamo Dlhovo, in her capacity as the chairperson of the council.

While noting progress on the signature of the Comesa-EAC-Sadc TFTA, the regional leaders stressed that its signing and ratification was critical as it will pave the way for the successful implementation of the AfCFTA.

AfCFTA entered into force on January 1, this year with the aim of eliminating over 90 percent of tariffs on goods and also to progressively liberalise trade in services in order to promote production of all goods.

However, the volume of trade covered by the agreement’s rules of origin reported so far is lower than expected.

Regional ministers have since called for urgent action by member states towards finalisation of negotiations on rules of origin on some sensitive tariff lines and agreement on some customs documentations, and accession to AfCFTA by Sadc member states, including those participating in the customs unions.

Services sectors that have been prioritised under phase one of negotiations are communication services, tourism services, professional services, computer services, financial services and transport services.

The meeting observed that there were slow submissions of offers and requests of schedule of commitments, which had delayed the start-up phase of the negotiations.

“The Council noted that 22 Comesa-EAC-Sadc member/partner states have signed the TFTA Agreement while 10 have ratified the agreement,” said Sadc in an outcome statement.

“Of the 10, member/partner states, five are Sadc member states (Botswana, Eswatini, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia).

Article 39(3) of the TFTA Agreement provides for the agreement to enter into force upon ratification by 14 member/partner states.

“This means an additional four ratifications are required for the agreement to enter into force.”

Under the free movement of goods in the context of AfCFTA, the Council of Ministers noted that as of February 5, 2021, 36 African Union (AU) Member States had deposited their instruments of ratification of AfCFTA with the chairperson of the AU Commission.

Out of these countries nine are Sadc member states — Angola, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The Council of Ministers re-affirmed the Sadc common position on the negotiations of the protocol to the treaty establishing the African Economic Community relating to the free movement of persons, right of residence and right of establishment.

It noted that to date, a total of 33 countries have signed the protocol and eight of these are Sadc member states, namely Zimbabwe, Angola, Comoros, DRC, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.

The AfCFTA seeks to increase employment opportunities and incomes, helping to expand opportunities for all African countries.

The historic trade deal is expected to lift around 68 million people out of poverty and make African countries more competitive, according to official estimates.-herald.cl.zw