Term of agreement
The COMESA agreement began as a preferential trade area that aims to establish a free trade area among the member states to develop into a customs union and then a common market.
start to take effect
Egypt signed the accession to the Common Market Agreement for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) on 6/29/1998, and customs exemptions began to be applied to imports from the rest of the member states as of 2/17/1999 on the basis of the principle of reciprocity for goods that are accompanied by an approved certificate of origin. from the concerned authorities in each country.
On October 31, 2000, 9 COMESA member states signed an agreement to establish a free trade area, including: (Egypt / Kenya / Sudan / Mauritius / Zambia / Zimbabwe / Djibouti / Malawi / Madagascar), and Rwanda and Burundi joined them on 1 1/2004 whereby those countries grant complete exemption from customs duties imposed on imports exchanged between them, provided that these products are accompanied by a COMESA certificate of origin.
Current status of COMESA tariff reductions
Egypt, Kenya, Sudan, Mauritius, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Djibouti, Malawi, Madagascar, Rwanda and Burundi among themselves grant commodities and products of COMESA origin complete exemption from customs duties and other fees and taxes of similar effect.
Uganda, Eritrea and Comoros: apply an 80% reduction on their imports from COMESA countries
Ethiopia: applies a customs reduction of 10% of the customs duties imposed on its imports from the COMESA countries.
Seychelles and the Democratic Republic of the Congo: do not grant any tariff reductions.
Swaziland: It does not apply any customs exemptions and there is a grace period granted to it on the basis that it is conducting studies on the effects of its accession to the Free Trade Area Agreement in light of its association with the Southern African Customs Union (SACU).
Angola recently suspended its membership in the organization.
Libya signed to join the COMESA during the tenth summit of COMESA heads of state in June 2005.
Egyptian exports enjoying exemption
All Egyptian commodities exported to member states enjoy complete exemption from all customs duties and other fees and taxes of similar effect, according to the rates of discounts approved by each country and on the basis of the principle of reciprocity.
There are no exceptions except for Sudan, Kenya, and Mauritius, where Sudan submitted on 23/5/2001 a negative list (which includes 58 commodities that are not allowed to be imported from Egypt unless the fees are paid in full). Then, on 20/7/2003, Sudan, at the request of the Egyptian side, revised the list and reduced the number of commodities included in that list. The situation ended with:
Sudan reduced customs duties by 30% on some commodities, namely:
Sponge mattresses, lighting wax, pipes, cubbies, minibuses, water coolers, televisions, telephones, electric switches, doors, steel windows and home furniture.
Sudan retains some commodities that are excluded from the application of exemptions. These commodities are:
Sugar, flour, cigarettes, soda water, ketchup, jams, juices, biscuits, sweets, tahini, vegetable oils, soap, cotton yarn, cotton textiles, blended textiles, medical cotton, ready-made garments, knitwear, leather shoes, plastic shoes, canvas shoes, sponge shoes, paints (except ship and car paints), matches, tires (except tractor tires, agricultural equipment and wheels motors, forklifts and separate mechanisms), liquid and dry batteries, plastic bags, perfumes, cosmetics, zinc sheets Reinforcing skewers, small cars, wicker, sheet metal, iron, refrigerators, water conditioners, electric wires, cables, cardboard boxes and boxes, cement, wooden and aluminum doors and windows, and office furniture.
Kenya recently imposed protectionist measures on its sugar imports for a period of four years (the quota that is allowed to be imported free of charge is 111 thousand tons for refined sugar and 89 thousand tons for raw sugar) that period ends on 31/12/2007. Kenya also extended protectionist measures on wheat flour for a period of one year starting from May 2005 , provided that these measures are in the form of tariff quotas ( a quota is exempted and 60 % customs duties are imposed on it ).
Mauritius excludes some commodities from complete customs exemption. Those commodities are detergents, soaps, paints, and sanitary napkins. A fee of 40% is imposed on them, while 20% is imposed on diapers imported from Egypt.
Egyptian imports exempted from customs exemption
Customs exemptions apply to all goods imported from all member states that achieve an added value equivalent to 45%. Egypt does not maintain any negative lists except with the State of Sudan, so that the excluded goods are: chickpeas, cotton textiles, blended textiles, ready-made clothes, and knitwear.
The most important Egyptian exports to the COMESA member states
The most important Egyptian exports to COMESA countries:
Building materials such as iron and steel, and cement
Chemical and pharmaceutical products, the most important of which are paper and human medicines.
Food, sugar, oils and grease industries
Rice, fruits and vegetables
Some engineering products.
The most important Egyptian imports from COMESA
The most important imports from COMESA countries:
coffee and tea
tobacco
Sesame oily fruits
live animals
copper
Advantages offered by the agreement
The population of the COMESA member states is 380 million, and thus it represents a spacious market and outlet for many Egyptian products.
Benefiting from mutual exemptions, as there are eleven countries that have joined the COMESA free trade zone, and these countries grant their imports from other countries a complete exemption, in addition to Egypt applying the principle of reciprocity with the rest of the member states.
It is possible to take advantage of the structure of the member states’ imports, as these countries accept to import many commodities in which Egypt enjoys a high advantage in their production. At the top of that list is rice, foodstuffs, household appliances, dried onions, ceramics, sanitary ware, medicines, then car tires, aluminum and iron products Steel, yarn, textiles and shoes.
It is clear from the production structure of the member states that they are countries that depend on the export of raw materials, raw materials and main commodities such as copper, coffee, tea, raw hides, cattle, meat, sesame, corn and tobacco. These are important commodities whose granting of exemption affects the well-being of the Egyptian consumer.
Benefiting from the financial assistance provided by the African Development Bank and other international financial institutions in the field of developing exports to African countries.
Article 158 of the COMESA Agreement stipulates the encouragement of cooperation in the fields of investment, and Article 164 stipulates the liberalization of trade in services, which provides an opportunity for Egypt to export technical expertise, especially with Egypt’s superiority in the field of trade in services, especially contracting works.
The agreement provides for the establishment of an advanced system for exchanging information within the member states.
There are other gains resulting from what was included in the agreement in the field of industrial and agricultural cooperation, as well as in the field of transportation and communications.
