Common Market for Eastern and Southern African Countries: Multiplicity of Membership Issues and Choices

2010 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luwam Dirar
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Development Project ◽  
Common Market ◽  
Customs Union ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Member States ◽  
East African Community

The preferential trade agreement of Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) was formed in 1982 with the objective of achieving deeper integration. In 1994 COMESA member states agreed to form a free trade agreement. The free trade agreement came into effect after nine member states ratified it. In 2004, Rwanda and Burundi joined the free trade agreement and increased the membership size to 11. In 2009 COMESA was transformed into a customs union. The purpose of the article is to analyse how formation of the COMESA customs union affects the current state of multiplicity of membership in Southern and Eastern African countries. The article argues that multiplicity of membership hinders deeper integration. Based on the assumption that deeper regional integration can play a role in the development project of Eastern and Southern African countries, the article tries to make a cursory review of the overlap of membership among COMESA, Southern African Development Community (SADC), Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and East African Community (EAC) states. It tries to draw policy choices of the way forward to end the multiplicity of membership. The analysis of this article is based on the percentile of each member state's rate of export. It is not a percentile of the total regional exports. Not all COMESA member states have been analysed in this article. The article mainly focuses on those COMESA member states that treat COMESA as their main trading block in Africa and that also have multiple memberships in SADC, SACU and EAC.

OPINION 2/15 OF THE CJEU: DELINEATING THE SCOPE OF THE NEW EU COMPETENCE IN FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT

2018 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-32
Author(s):  
Rumiana Yotova
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Foreign Direct Investment ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Direct Investment ◽  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
The Eu

ON 16 May 2017, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered its Opinion 2/15 concerning the competence of the EU to conclude the Free Trade Agreement with Singapore (EUSFTA) (ECLI:EU:C:2017:376). The Opinion was requested by the Commission which argued, with the support of the European Parliament (EP), that the EU had exclusive competence to conclude the EUSFTA. The Council and 25 of the Member States countered that the EUSFTA should be concluded as a mixed agreement – that is, by the EU and each of its members – because some of its provisions fell under the shared competence of the organisation or the competence of the Member States alone.

Central American integration through infrastructure development: A case study of Costa Rican hydropower

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denielle M. Perry ◽  
Kate A. Berry
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Central America ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
The United States ◽  
Global Market ◽  
Central American ◽  
Infrastructure Development

At the turn of the 21st century, protectionist policies in Latin America were largely abandoned for an agenda that promoted free trade and regional integration. Central America especially experienced an increase in international, interstate, and intraregional economic integration through trade liberalization. In 2004, such integration was on the agenda of every Central American administration, the U.S. Congress, and Mexico. The Plan Puebla-Panama (PPP) and the Central America Integrated Electricity System (SIEPAC), in particular, aimed to facilitate the success of free trade by increasing energy production and transmission on a unifi ed regional power grid (Mesoamerica, 2011). Meanwhile, for the United States, a free trade agreement (FTA) with Central America would bring it a step closer to realizing a hemispheric trade bloc while securing market access for its products. Isthmus states considered the potential for a Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with the United States, their largest trading partner, as an opportunity to enter the global market on a united front. A decade and a half on, CAFTA, PPP, and SIEPAC are interwoven, complimentary initiatives that exemplify a shift towards increased free trade and development throughout the region. As such, to understand one, the other must be examined.

scholarly journals The Effects of AfCFTA on Food Security Sustainability: An Analysis of the Cereals Trade in the SADC Region

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Takudzwa Pasara ◽  
Nolutho Diko
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
Consumer Surplus ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Diversion ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Multiplier Effects ◽  
Trade Perspective

The signing of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) has stimulated a lot of trade potential in Africa that could see the continent significantly improving its intra-trade levels, thereby boosting the economic welfare of Africans. In light of food security sustainability in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, this paper employed the World Integrated Trade Solution, Software for Market Analysis and Restrictions on Trade (WITS-SMART) simulation model to assess the potential effects of the AfCFTA on trade in cereals. Cereals have been regarded as the most critical component of food security. The model indicated trading partners for each of the 15 SADC countries, their level of trade creation, trade diversion, consumer surplus, welfare and revenue effects of any regional trade agreement. The results indicated that the AfCFTA will only lead to positive outcomes in four (Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar and Namibia) of the fifteen SADC countries, with the rest remaining unchanged. In general, previously closed economies, that is, economies which were not part of a free trade agreement (FTA) or a deeper arrangement will stand to gain more than open economies because they are already opened up at the free trade level, which is equivalent to the AfCFTA. Thus, as far as cereals and food security is concerned, the AfCFTA will add minimal value. However, the overall value gains are likely to be greater when all food categories are included in the simulations. In general, the study recommends that African countries should deepen their integration levels to perhaps common markets where production factors, that is, labour and capital, become mobile. This will have multiplier effects in improving continental food security sustainability from a trade perspective.

EU-UK FTA leaves open the prospect of future conflict

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Flows ◽  
Member States ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Eu

Significance The agreement offers zero quotas and tariffs on most goods, but there is little coverage on services while trade flows face disruption from significant non-tariff barriers. Impacts The deal will make it slightly easier to reach a UK-US free trade agreement, though strong divisions remain. The strict conditionality associated with the FTA suggests Euroscepticism will remain an important feature of UK politics. The process and costs associated with Brexit makes it less likely that Eurosceptic member states will attempt to leave the EU.

An Analysis of a US–Southern African Customs Union (SACU) Free Trade Agreement

2008 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 461-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Drusilla K. Brown ◽  
Kozo Kiyota ◽  
Robert M. Stern
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Customs Union

scholarly journals Free Trade Agreement between Turkey and Russian Federation and its Possible Effects to these Countries’ Trade and Taxational Reflections

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raşit Gültekin ◽  
Mustafa Erkan Üyümez
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Free Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Restrictions ◽  
The Impact

The last period of international trade in goods covers a process carried out with globalization and regionalization efforts. Many countries, on the one hand, take part in arrangements that are executed under the leadership by global actors and aim at removing or reducing conventional obstacles to international trade, on the other hand, participate in various and regional economic integrations to provide a more deep and comprehensive economic cooperation and to cope with the competition and trade restrictions which continually increasing due to political, commercial and economical motives. Trade relations between Turkey and Russian Federation is an important element of the two countries' multidimensional cooperation. The most effective attempt to raise the top level of the volume and quality of existing commercial relationships will be the signing and putting into practice of a comprehensive free trade agreements between the two countries that have not been done previously. The purpose of this study is to determine the potential effects of such a free trade agreements between Turkey and Russian Federation in terms of trade in goods between two countries. To this end, in this study, theoretical aspects of free trade agreements' effects and place within regional integration types will be considered the impact of the possible Turkey-Russia free trade agreement will be examined in a framework of basic provisions with customs duties that set out in free trade agreements, recent trade data and key issues related to these countries.

African Continental Free Trade Agreement: the Pros and Cons on the Oil and Gas Industry in Nigeria

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Ayodele ◽  
Oshogwe Akpogomeh ◽  
Freda Amuah ◽  
Gloria Maduabuchi
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Cheap Labour ◽  
Pros And Cons ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Nigeria has oil and gas as her major source of revenue, accounting for more than 80% of her foreign exchange, with the AfCFTA, that has been signed and ratified not just by Nigeria but by other African countries taking away tariffs on goods and services produced across the continent irrespective of the market where it's been sold. The AfCFTA being the second largest free trade agreement in the history of World Trade Organization is aimed at uniting African markets. This paper aims to review the framework of the continental free trade agreement, it pros and cons, its grey area, and its impact on the Oil and Gas Industry in Nigeria. The impact of the agreement on the local industries servicing the oil and gas industry is considered as well. The paper reviews the possible advantage of the AfCFTA on the Nigerian oil and gas market. The possible threats to nationalization in the oil and gas industry due to the availability of cheap labour and technical expertise across the continent in the country is analyzed. Solutions to protect the oil and gas industry in Nigeria is recommended as well.

scholarly journals The Development of the Free Trade Area of the Americas: A Guide For Legal Research

2005 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle S. Viegas
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
The United States ◽  
Common Market ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
The World

At the 1994 Summit of the Americas, leaders of democratic nations in the Western Hemisphere committed to establishing a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) by January 2005. The Declaration of Principles resulting from that Summit called for building on “existing sub-regional and bilateral arrangements in order to broaden and deepen hemispheric economic integration and to bring the agreements together.” Although ambitious, this endeavor was undertaken during a decade marked by an unprecedented proliferation of trade agreements. In 1991, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay agreed to initiate the formation of a common market now known as the MERCOSUR. Then in 1994, Canada, Mexico and the United States signed the North American Free Trade Agreement which replaced the United States-Canada Free Trade Agreement. Later that year, nations around the world formalized the existing General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, creating the World Trade Organization. In 1997, the Andean Community of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela formalized its plans to establish a common market. Members of the Caribbean Community and Common Market also agreed in several protocols to further their economic and social integration. During the 1990's, numerous other trade agreements were negotiated, and their development continues at the same rapid pace today.

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