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The Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, Wamkele Mene, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the World Customs Organisation (WCO) to promote trade liberalisation in Africa.
The new partnership is aimed at operationalising the tariff schedules and ensuring additional free and efficient movement of goods within Africa.
The agreement will also allow the two organisations to work together and support each other to address logistical challenges while seeking to implement programmes and develop trade.
A February 15, statement from the secretariat noted that “AfCFTA Secretariat and the WCO are united in their shared goal of increasing prosperity in Africa through the liberalisation of trade on the Continent.”
According to the statement, this MoU represents the next logical step for the two organisations as they work to reduce barriers to trade across Africa by connecting Customs systems.
The MoU, which was signed by Secretary-General of the AfCFTA H.E. Wamkele Mene, and the Secretary-General of the WCO, H.E. Kunio Mikuriya, occured in Brussels [Belgium].
It is expected to also populate the AfCFTA Tariff Book and provide capacity building for customs officials and administration.
The collaboration is set to capacitate AfCFTA with the following:
I) technological systems that would allow standardization of data and connectivity of
Customs systems
II) a developed AfCFTA E -Tariff-Book;
III) enhanced skills and expertise of Customs officials in operationalising the AfCFTA;
IV) migration of all AfCFTA Member States to HS 2022;
V) effective start of trading using the AfCFTA tariff Book
Mr. Wamkele Mene is of the view that “the MoU would enable the WCO to partner with the AfCFTA in ensuring that Customs Administrations are fully equipped to implement the AfCFTA Agreement.”
AfCFTA is the world’s largest free trade area since the formulation of the World Trade
Organisationcomprising all 55 member states of the African Union, covering a
market of more than 1.2 billion people with a gross domestic product of $2.6 trillion.
The World Customs Organization (WCO) is the only intergovernmental organisation focused uniquely on customs matters. With 184 Members across the globe collectively processing 98% of world trade, the WCO is recognised as the voice of the customs community.
