COMESA

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) which is currently a Free Trade Area (FTA) was established in 1994 with the objective of being a fully integrated, internationally competitive regional economic community with high standards of living for its entire people ready to merge into an African Economic Community.

         COMESA (Group I) FTA Member States     COMESA (Group II) Non-FTA Member States

FACTS & FIGURES

COMESA FREE TRADE AREA

The COMESA Free Trade Area (FTA) was launched on 31 October 2000. Member states that belong to the FTA trade on a duty-free basis among themselves provided that the goods meet the COMESA rules of origin.

There are currently twelve countries that form part of the FTA (Group I Member States):
Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Sudan, Zambia, Zimbabwe. All these countries trade on a duty-free and quota-free basis.

Member states which are not in the FTA (Group II Member States) either grant partial tariff reduction or do not offer any tariff reduction.

COMESARules of Origin
 
The COMESA Rules of Origin are a set of criteria that distinguish between goods produced within the COMESA Member States and are entitled to duty-free or preferential treatment with respect to customs duties.

Rules of Origin Criteria

• The goods should be wholly produced or obtained in a Member State; or

• The goods should be produced in the Member States and the CIF value of any foreign materials should not exceed 60% of the total cost of all materials used in their production; or

• The value added resulting from the process of producing the goods from imported materials should account for at least 35% of the ex-factory cost of the goods; or

• The goods should be produced in Member States and be classified or become classified, after the process of production, under a tariff heading other than the tariff heading under which they were imported (CTH rule). 

Note

• In the case of Egypt, the value added resulting from the process of producing the goods from imported materials should account for at least 45% of the ex-factory cost of the goods.

• The COMESA CTH Rule is applicable only for a limited number of products and the list of processes required to be carried out leading to a Change in Tariff Heading are specified. 

Complete information on the rules of origin under COMESA is available from the COMESA Procedures Manual on the implementation of the Protocol on Rules of Origin

Certificate of Origin:

The COMESA Certificate of Origin is both issued and approved by the Foreign Trade Division of the Ministry of Business, Enterprise and Cooperatives.

Foreign Trade Division
4th Floor, Anglo Mauritius Building
Intendence Street
Port Louis
Tel: (230) 201 1072
Fax: (230) 208 7325

Email: mcom@mail.gov.mu

Website: http://enterbusiness.gov.mu

For the Foreign trade Division to approve the Certificate, the following documents must be submitted:

• COMESA Certificate of Origin duly filled
• Customs Declaration (Export and Import)
• Export Invoice
• Appropriate certified costing for value added requirements
• Any other document as may be required by the Foreign Trade Division 

Non-Tariff Barriers

Non Tariff Barriers have the capacity to restrict trade and are real impediments to the free exchange of goods. NTBs are most often imposed by the importing countries and they usually take the form of excessive import surcharges, arduous sanitary standards, restrictive import permits and licenses, pre-shipment inspection, and cumbersome customs procedures and documentation amongst others.

In order to provide for the gradual elimination of Non Tariff Barriers (NTBs) in the region, the Tripartite Task Force, COMESA, EAC & SADC, have joined forces to develop a common mechanism for the online reporting, monitoring and eliminating NTBs. The NTB website incorporates information on Member States in all three regional agreements with comprehensive details on the NTBs faced by the business community when trading in the region.

The online reporting mechanism form, which must be filled by the exporter, is user-friendly and can be accessed on: http://ntb.africonnect.com/

Focal points have also been set up to help the business community in reporting NTBs. Currently, the Chamber acts as the private sector focal point in Mauritius and the National Focal Point is the International Trade Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, tel: 2115287.                                                  

COMESA Customs Union

COMESA launched its Customs Union in June 2009 with the objective of deepening its integration process.

• COMESA
• COMESA Statistics
• Tralac

Chambers of Commerce: