Tariff Cuts Under African Free Trade Area Expected to Take Effect July 2020, Namibian Official Says
Tariff negotiations among members of the new African Continental Free Trade Agreement are scheduled to conclude by January 2020, with duty reductions under the agreement to take effect in July next year, according to a report in the Namibian newspaper…
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New Era. Signatories of the agreement, which entered into force at the end of May, have agreed that 90 percent of tariffs will be eliminated, while another 7 percent may be designated as sensitive and 3 percent may be excluded from liberalization. Namibian International Relations and Cooperation Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah told New Era that negotiations on tariff reductions on the sensitive list are due to the African Union Commission for approval in January. “She noted that trading and tariff dismantling under the AfCFTA is to commence in July 2020, and member states are expected to conclude outstanding rules of origin negotiation,” the report said.