Trade and market integration have played a central role in comesa`s development due to their preferential trade area (PTA) context for Eastern and Southern Africa. That is why the Foundation has supported the establishment of institutions that promote trade liberalization and trade facilitation programmes. In addition, Article 4 of the COMESA Treaty[1] reaffirms the removal of obstacles to the free movement of persons, workers and services, as well as the right of establishment and residence of investors in the Comesa region. U.S. assistance in trade capacity building for COMESA, primarily through USAID`s regional mission in East Africa and its global trade center in Central and East Africa in Kenya, has helped COMESA promote their internal free trade area, harmonize members` telecommunications policies, services and investment and to strengthen trade relations with the United States under AGOA. Fourteen COMESA members are eligible for AGOA and nine qualify for the textile and clothing benefits. The IIA navigator will be constantly adapted following the review and comments of UN Member States. It is mainly based on information provided by governments on a voluntary basis. A contract is included in a country`s IIA census as soon as it is formally concluded; Contracts whose negotiations have been concluded but not signed are not accounted for. A contract is excluded from the IIA`s census as soon as its termination takes effect, as soon as it continues to have a legal effect on certain investments during its survival period (“sunset”). In case of renewal of a contract, only one of the contracts between the same parties is counted.
Depending on the situation, the counted treaty may be the old one if it remains in force until the ratification of the newly concluded IIA. Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the content, UNCTAD assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions in such data. The information and texts contained in the database are for purely informative purposes and have no official or legal status. In case of doubt about the contents of the database, it is recommended that you contact the competent governmental authority of the State(s) concerned. Users are invited to report agreements, errors or omissions via the online contact form. Comesa currently manages a Free Trade Area (FTA) between fifteen member states, Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Democratic Republic of Congo joined the COMESA Free Trade Agreement in December 2015 and is in the process of concluding the exit from tariffs. In 2009, comesa launched a customs union. From the date of introduction, the Member States agreed on a transitional period of three years to domesticate the customs administrative provisions, the External Common Customs Tariff and the Nomenclature of the Common Customs Tariff, which would gradually form the customs union. .
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