DECISION ON THE DRAFT LEGAL INSTRUMENTS
Doc. Assembly/AU/11(XXXI)
The Assembly,
TAKES NOTE of the Recommendations of the Executive Council on the Draft Annexes to the Protocols on Trade in Goods, and Rules and Procedures on the Settlement of Disputes to the Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA);
RECALLS Decision Ext/Assembly/AU/Dec.1(X) adopted during the 10th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly held on 21 March 2018 in Kigali, Rwanda that adopted the Agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and called for an Extraordinary Session of the STC on Justice and Legal Affairs to consider the Annexes to the Protocol on Trade in Goods, and the Protocol on the Rules and Procedures on the Settlement of Disputes for submission to the Assembly in July 2018 for adoption;
COMMENDS the Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Justice and Legal Affairs and the Commission for their efforts to conclude and finalise the Annexes to the Protocols to the AfCFTA Agreement;
ADOPTS the following Annexes:
Protocol on Trade in Goods:
Annex 1 : Schedule of Tariff Concessions
Annex 2 : Rules of Origin
Annex 3: Customs Cooperation and Mutual Administrative Assistance (iv) Annex 4: Trade Facilitation
Annex 5: Non-Tariff Barriers
Annex 6: Technical Barriers to Trade
Annex 7: Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
Annex 8: Transit, and
Annex 9: Trade Remedies.
Protocol on Rules and Procedures on the Settlement of Disputes:
Annex 1 : The Working Procedures of the Panel;
Annex 2 : Expert Review Groups; and
Annex 3 : The Code of Conduct for Arbitrators and Panelists.
CONGRATULATES the Member States who signed and/or ratified the Agreement Establishing the AfCFTA and STRONGLY URGES all other Member States to sign and ratify in order to expedite its entry into force.