Decision on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) - Doc. Assembly/AU/3(XXXI)

DECISION ON THE AFRICAN CONTINENTAL
FREE TRADE AREA (AfCFTA)

Doc. Assembly/AU/3(XXXI)

The Assembly,

1. TAKES NOTE WITH APPRECIATION of the Report of H.E. Issoufou Mahamadou, President of the Republic of Nige, Leader of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and the recommendations thereof on the progress achieved on the establishment of the AfCFTA;

2. RECALLS Decision Ext/Assembly/AU/Dec.1(X) adopted in Kigali, Rwanda, in March 2018, which requested the African Union Ministers of Trade to submit the Annexes to the Protocol on Trade in Goods, Annexes to the Protocol on the Rules and Procedures on the Settlement of Disputes, and the List of Priority Sectors on Trade in Services to the July 2018 Session of the Assembly for adoption;

3. ADOPTS the five (5) services priority sectors: transport, communication, tourism, financial and business services;

4. ENDORSES the recommendations of African Union Ministers of Trade to undertake national and regional consultations on the lists of sensitive products and exclusion and REQUESTS them to come up with a conclusive recommendation on this matter for consideration by the February 2019 Summit;

5. COMMENDS the African Union Ministers of Trade (AMOT), Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Justice and Legal Affairs and the Commission for their efforts to conclude Annexes to the Protocol on Trade in Goods and Annexes to the Protocol on the Rules and Procedures on the Settlement of Disputes;

6. WELCOMES the signatures and ratifications of the Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area and its Protocols and STRONGLY URGES all other Member States who have not done so to sign and ratify the Agreement establishing the AfCFTA before its first anniversary;

7. DECIDES to celebrate the entry into force of the AfCFTA during the 1^st Mid-Year Coordination Meeting of the Bureau of the Assembly and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) to be held in Niamey, Niger in June/July 2019;

8. COMMITS to undertake broad-based national awareness campaigns so that all stakeholders such as ordinary citizens and business people across Africa embrace the AfCFTA;

9. FURTHER COMMITS to engage external partners as one block speaking with one voice and URGES Member States to abstain from entering into bilateral trading arrangements until the entry into force of the Agreement establishing the AfCFTA;

10. MANDATES the Commission to organize a Civil Society Forum and a Private Sector Forum preceding the June/July 2019 Mid-Year Coordination Meeting in Niamey, Niger in order to enhance stakeholder engagement on the implementation of the AfCFTA;

11. FURTHER COMMITS to establish National Committees on AfCFTA to ensure meaningful participation of all stakeholders and come up with national AfCFTA and Boosting Intra-African trade strategies;

12. REQUESTS the Commission to:

1. develop a template on the operation of national AfCFTA committees by January 2019;

2. develop regulatory cooperation in all services sectors in collaboration with national and regional regulators and building on continental and global experiences.

13. REITERATES ITS DIRECTIVE to the AU Ministers responsible for Trade to:

1. submit the Schedules of Tariff Concessions, and Schedules of Specific Commitments on Trade in Services in line with agreed modalities to the February 2019 Assembly for adoption;

2. conclude the negotiations on Competition Policy, Investment and Intellectual Property Rights, and submit the draft legal texts to the January 2020 Session of the Assembly for adoption through the Specialised Technical Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs.

14. REQUESTS the AfCFTA Leader, H.E. Issoufou Mahamadou, President of the Republic of Niger to submit a progress report on the AfCFTA to the February 2019 Summit.