Develop a continent-wide simplified trade regime – UNECA to AfCFTA Secretariat
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) has urged the AfCFTA Secretariat to develop a continent-wide Simplified Trade Regime (STR) for cross-border trading under AfCFTA.
According to UNECA, the AfCFTA agreement and its annexes do not establish a Simplified Trade Regime (STR) nor does it create a mandate for the eventual formulation of such a regime.
In view of that, the Commission in a recent report on the AfCFTA agreement, asserts that efforts should be urgently made to ensure the creation of a STR and broaden inclusiveness particularly for informal traders in the operation of the AfCFTA.
“Earlier drafts of the AfCFTA text included elements of a trade simplification system for traders. Article 28 of Annex 2 to the Protocol on Trade in Goods elaborates which goods may be traded without the burden of furnishing proofs of origin, namely small packages from private persons to other private persons (with a value threshold of $500) and items for personal use (with a value threshold of $1,200). The language used here derives closely from that used in 2015 for the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA).
“However, earlier drafts of the AfCFTA Agreement expanded these exemptions beyond the TFTA text to include commonly traded goods imported by cross-border traders endorsed by adjacent customs authorities. Such a provision, while not explicitly creating an STR, would have provided a basis and an opening for subsequent efforts to simplify trade requirements by customs authorities,” states the report.
“A basis for justifying an AfCFTA-anchored STR exists: in 2007, the EAC and COMESA adopted STRs for small cross-border traders for selected commodities. Simplified customs documents and a simplified certificate of origin were permitted in establishing duty-free entry for consignments not exceeding $1,000 (COMESA) and $2,000 (EAC). ECOWAS does not have a formal STR, but does not, in practice, require proof of origin for agricultural and livestock products, as well as hand made articles or articles produced with or without the use of tools, instruments or implements directly operated by the craftsman.
“While the opportunity to create an STR was missed in the establishment of the AfCFTA, commitments to an eventual STR have recently been expressed at the highest policymaking levels. The first step in supporting the realisation of those commitments is for the AUC and the Regional Economic Communities, with research partners, to deepen the research base, advance analytical justification, and encourage the sharing of best practices on existing STRs in Africa,” the report adds.
The report by UNECA on the AfCFTA is titled “Human Rights and the African Continental Free Trade Area – Taking Stock and Navigating the Way Forward”
Background
In 2017, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung office in Geneva developed an ex ante human rights impact assessment (HRIA) of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Prepared at the outset of the negotiation process for the AfCFTA Agreement, this HRIA sought to provide an evidence base and policy recommendations to ensure the design and implementation of the AfCFTA align with human rights and development commitments and priorities.
The present report evaluates the extent to which the 2017 HRIA recommendations are reflected in the legal text of the Agreement, in the AfCFTA negotiations, and in the broader policy ecosystem of activities, institutions and initiatives. The result is a series of scorecards that provide interpretable high-level performance markers describing the progress being made against these recommendations.
Though each point is necessarily far more complex than can be expressed by a traffic-light score, the intention here is to raise red flags where human rights may be being overlooked, while celebrating areas where they are being considered and respected. Finally, the report extends the perspective of human-rights analysis to new an emerging issues, including trade developments at the global and regional levels, as well as the upcoming Phase II of the AfCFTA protocols.
The summary scorecards cover recommendations from each area addressed in the 2017 HRIA. In total, 36 issues were reviewed: 7 have been accorded a green flag (recognising commendable achievements); 16 have received an amber flag (recognising progress but requiring further efforts); and 8 have been given a red flag (drawing attention to the risk of human rights being overlooked). Lastly, 5 have been scored grey, meaning insufficient information is available or evaluation was not possible.
