Elimination of COMESA tariffs deferred

The elimination of tariffs in the 20-nation Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) will not occur in December 2004 as planned, according to a top official. "It has been deferred to next year," said Chungu Mwila, director of investment at the regional organisation. He told a three-day workshop in South Africa this week on 'Trade and Poverty in Southern Africa' that some members had requested more time to prepare. COMESA took an important step in 2000 towards regional economic integration when nine of its members - Djibouti, Egypt, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Sudan, Zambia and Zimbabwe - reduced their customs tariffs on COMESA-originating goods to zero. The other 11 have effected tariff cuts of between 60 percent and 90 percent. In 2003, trade among COMESA Free Trade Area countries grew by 48 percent, compared to a growth of 22 percent among COMESA countries as a whole. Intra-regional trade was valued at $5.3 billion in 2003. "The formation of the Free Trade Area means that there are no customs duties or tariff barriers to goods that are produced and traded among the participating member states, provided such goods meet the requirements of the COMESA rules of origin," Mwila said. COMESA sees the creation of the Free Trade Area as the first step towards full regional integration and the adoption of a common currency by the year 2025. "Regional integration, in today's world, is the only way to generate sufficient economic activity, improve efficiency, heighten competition, attract investments and thus create jobs. No single nation in Africa can prosper outside the framework of regionalism," he added. COMESA is also trying to eliminate barriers to the free movement of people within its vast geographical zone, which extends from Egypt in the north to Zimbabwe in the south, but does not include South Africa. Membership of the organisation overlaps the other big regional economic body, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and over the years there has been a number of realignments of members between both blocs. At next week's SADC summit in Mauritius, Madagascar is expected to apply for SADC membership and Seychelles to confirm its withdrawal from the 14-country organisation. Both are COMESA members. SADC's drive towards a common market has lagged behind COMESA. With the exclusion of South Africa and the South African Customs Union, intra-SADC trade is reportedly around five percent. A free trade area is not scheduled to begin operating until 2008.