ECOWAS PROTOCOLS ON FREE MOVEMENT OF GOODS AND PERSONS PRESENTED BY Dr M. SOLA AFOLABI Business Environment Adviser Borderless Alliance Borderless Alliance Conference Lagos February 26-28, 2014

OUTLINE 1- CONTEXT 2- REGIONAL INTEGRATION 3- PROTOCOLS 4- WAY FORWARD 5- CLOSING THOUGHTS

CONTEXT CREATION OF ECOWAS COMMUNITY - COOPERATION REVISED TREATY - INTEGRATION - SUPRANATIONALITY TRANSFORMATION TO COMMISSION - REPLACE PROTOCOLS WITH SUPPLEMENTARY ACTS TO THE TREATY

REGIONAL INTEGRATION MAJOR PROTOCOLS 1- ETLS 2- ISRT 3- FREE MOVEMENT 4- CET

ECOWAS TRADE LIBERALIZATION SCHEME (ETLS) ELIMINATION OF TARRIF AND NON TARIF BARRIERS REMOVAL OF CUSTOMS DUTIES RAW MATERIALS 1990-INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS

ETLS (Contd) 1- RULES OF ORIGIN-MUTUAL RECOGNITION OF APPROVAL 2- PROHIBITION OF PRODUCTS 3- STANDARDS AND CERTIFICATIONS 4- CAPACITY BULDING FOR NATIONAL FOCAL POWERS 5- LACK OF INFORMATION

INTER STATE ROAD TRANSIT (ISRT) FREE INTRA-REGIONAL MOVEMENT OF GOODS AND VEHICLES MAJOR ISSUES 1- TRANSIT FEES 2-NATIONAL GUARANTOR 3-ROAD BLOCKS AND “FACILITATION” PAYMENTS 4- NON CONFORMING VEHICLES 5- NON COMPLIANCE WITH TRANSIT PROCEDURES

ECOWAS REGIONAL CUSTOMS CONNECTIVITY PROJECT (ALISA) FEATURES -REPLACE NATIONAL GUARANTOR WITH ……. -ONE-POINT PAYMENT OF BOND AND TRANSIT FEES -SCAN, SEAL AND TRACK VEHICLES AND GOODS -CENTRAL DATABASE OF TRANSIT DECLARATIONS -ELIMINATION OF BILATERAL DATA EXCHANGE PROTOCOLS

ECOWAS COMMON EXTERNAL TARRIF (CET) TARRIF BANDS 1- ESSENTIAL SOCIAL GOODS…………...0%, 85 TARIF LINES 2- GOODS OF PRIMARY NECESSITY…….5%, 2146 LINES 3-INPUT AND INTERMEDIATE GOODS……10%, 1373 LINES 4-FINAL CONSUMPTION GOODS……………20%, 2165 LINES 5- SPECIFIC GOODS ……………………...……35%,130 LINES

MAJOR ISSUES 1- OTHER TAXES AND LEVIES 2-SMUGGLING 3-CLASSIFICATION-INADVERTENT OR DELIBERATE (MALICIOUS)

ECOWAS FREE MOVEMENT PROTOCOL SCOPE - RIGHT OF ENTRY - RIGHT OF RESIDENCE - RIGHT OF ESTABLISHMENT

MAJOR ISSUES. COMPLIANCE WITH PROTOCOL RECIPROCITY REDRESSE-DISCUSSION ARBITRATION, COURT OF JUSTICE

WAY FORWARD ACCELERATED IMPLENTATION OF PROTOCOLS AND ACTS. MONITORING OF PROTOCOLS PUBLIC PRIVATE ADVOCACY PLATFORM  JOIN THE BORDERLESS ALLIANCE

CLOSING THOUGHTS FROM COOPERATION TO A WEST AFRICAN UNION WORLD CLASS TEXTS PROBLEM IS IMPLEMENTATION

WAKE UP TO ACTIVATE THE DREAM

THANK YOU