Common African tariff plan imminent

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) secretariat will soon finalise a plan for a common tariff policy among all signatories to the agreement. A Business Day report says the secretariat of the AfCFTA revealed ‘significant progress has been made on the regulatory frameworks’ especially for communications and financial services, ‘which aim to enhance market predictability and transparency’. This includes an implementation plan about the ‘rules of origin,’ common procedures in determining the eligibility of products to the AfCFTA and the ‘granting of tariff preferences’ as provided for under the agreement. Once this has been done, it is expected to encourage cross-border digital payments and data transfers and ‘developing the protocol on intellectual property rights’ as mandated by the 36th ordinary session of the assembly of the AU. ‘These drafts are in the final review stages, with comments due by the end of November and are then scheduled for presentation,’ it said. Once the communications and financial services road map is in place, work will begin in earnest on ‘transport frameworks and tourism services frameworks’.