COMESA Procedures:
COMESA is a regional organization consisting of 20 East and South African countries. It has been established and developed in response to the regional groupings starting with PTA, FTA, CU, and EU. 11 countries out of the 20 countries which joined TFA, have applied the zero tariff, whereas the rest of countries are still in the stage of PT. It is expected to announce CU of COMESA member countries in December 2004.
COMESA Procedures are as following:
1. Imports and exports shall not be linked together.
2. Importation and exportation shall take place in accordance with the general rules applicable in the case of ordinary import procedures.
3. Payment shall be affected in accordance with the applicable conditions of payment specified by the Bank of Sudan.
4. In case of importation, the contract shall be stamped by the Import Administration, in accordance with the following procedures.
5. Certificate of origin shall be scrutinized by customs authorities.
6. Customs preference shall be applied as follows:
Group I:
This group shall be treated on the basis of zero tariff and 100% customs reduction. This group consists of the following countries:
[no countries are mentioned]
Group II:
This group reduces customs by 80% and shall be treated on the basis of the same percentage. It consists of the following countries:
a. Comoros b. Uganda c. Eritrea
Group III:
This group reduces customs by 70% and shall be treated on the basis of the same percentage. It consists of the following countries:
a. Congo.
Group IV:
No customs reduction is currently applied to this group (similar treatment). It consists of the following countries:
a. Angola b. Ethiopia c. Namibia d. Swaziland
e. Seychelles
Some observations:
1. There is an agreement signed between Sudan and Egypt to exempt some commodities produced in the two countries from the COMESA zero tariff.
2. There is a bilateral agreement signed with Ethiopia to apply zero tariff and acceptance of COMESA documents such the certificate of origin.