Africa, Development & Aid, Economy & Trade, Headlines, Poverty & SDGs, Trade & Investment, Trade and poverty: Facts beyond theory

TRADE-AFRICA: COMESA States Urged to Drop Non-Tariff Barriers

Pilirani Semu-Banda

LILONGWE, Oct 5 2007 (IPS) - Despite the reduction in trade tariffs within the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), member states are still grappling with non-tariff barriers which restrict the flow of exports and imports. This is regarded as putting brakes on the improvement of trade volumes in the region.

For the first time ever, a sub-regional meeting on the status of the elimination of non-tariff barriers in COMESA took place in Blantyre, Malawi, a week ago.

The permanent secretary for Malawi’s ministry of trade, Newby Kumwembe, expressed concern that COMESA’s vision is being threatened by non-tariff barriers. Its vision is of establishing a fully integrated, internationally competitive regional economic community which prospers economically.

‘‘We have witnessed the reduction in tariffs but non-tariff barriers are still there. Non-tariff barriers include excessive customs and administrative entry procedures. Elimination of these will facilitate the free circulation of goods,’’ said Kumwembe.

He said Malawi, in particular, and COMESA as a whole stand to benefit from the removal of non-tariff barriers because, with them, will go all hindrances to exporting commodities.

‘‘Countries in the region will consequently enjoy economies of scale. At the moment, least developed countries are the most exposed to non-tariff barriers,’’ he said.

Official documentation on the status of the elimination of non-tariff barriers in COMESA was made available at the meeting.

It showed, for instance, that Uganda has complained about Egyptian authorities’ requirement that certificates of origin of products be endorsed by the Egyptian embassy in Kampala, Uganda, before the dispatch of any Ugandan products to Egypt.

These endorsements entail the payment of ‘‘legalisation fees’’. ‘‘The Egyptian embassy in Kampala is still charging ‘legalization fees’ for all Ugandan products,’’ states the document.

Zimbabwe is also on record as having complained to COMESA at some point that Malawian authorities required a pre-shipment inspection on all its goods.

According to the same record, 56 percent of all reported non-tariff barriers consist of customs and administrative entry procedures, including customs valuation, rules of origin and pre-shipment inspection; technical barriers to trade; sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures; and import regulations.

Kenya, for example, is reported to have complained about Ugandan authorities who have been requesting that samples of milk be tested by the Uganda dairy development authority while refusing to accept the certificate of analysis from the Kenya bureau of standards on any Kenyan product.

Malawi has also complained about the low quality of wheat that neighbouring Zambia brings into Malawi. ‘‘The COMESA secretariat has commissioned studies in respect of the wheat flour sector in Malawi, Zambia and Kenya and the results are yet to be finalized,’’ according to the official documentation.

Other complaints across the different member states include that exporters are forced to pay export charges twice within the country of origin. Furthermore, exporters spend lengthy periods of time at the borders before authorities let them into the countries where they aim to market their goods.

Some member countries, according to the documentation, exhibited a lack of willingness to adhere to the COMESA free trade agreement, fearing loss of competitiveness and revenue.

In a speech delivered by COMESA Senior Trade Policy Expert Geoffrey Osoro, COMESA Secretary General Erastus Mwencha called on member countries to forge ahead with a common strategy to eliminate the trade barriers.

Osoro said the meeting was convened as there has been a continued proliferation of non-tariff barriers to trade in the region. Mwencha urged member states to focus on the larger picture, which is to create a trading environment that is free from hindrances.

By the end of the meeting, COMESA member states agreed to establish national enquiry points (NEPs) in every country to report, monitor and eliminate non-tariff barriers.

The member states agreed that they had the potential to decrease the levels of the non-trade barriers if their efforts were coordinated.

The East African Business Council, represented by Ogwal Mosses, a trade economist, pledged its support to COMESA’s effort to remove trade barriers.

Meanwhile, COMESA plans to launch a customs union next year, which is widely expected to unlock trade and investment opportunities in the region. The Malawian ministry of trade indicated at the meeting that the creation of a customs union will help to address non-tariff barriers.

The creation of a customs union is overdue as article 45 of the COMESA treaty requires member states to establish a customs union over a transitional period of ten years from the ratification of the treaty, which happened in 1994.