Mobilising Aid for Trade: A Global Review Regional Approaches: Eastern and Southern Africa Mark Pearson (representing the COMESA Secretariat) 19th November 2007 WTO Secretariat, Geneva, Switzerland

Administrative and Financing Issues: COMESA Aid for Trade (COMAid) Unit: An Aid for Trade Unit is being established to prepare the regional AfT strategy; implementation plan; bankable project proposals and provide demand-driven assistance on AfT to COMESA Member States. COMESA Fund: Resources will be made available to countries in need of AfT to allow them to take advantage of more liberal trade regimes after they have presented bankable programmes and main-streamed trade into the development agenda. The COMESA Fund is a mechanism to channel resources down to the projects. It can “accept” grants or loans, and can disburse by buying equity or lending or providing a grant.

Trade Policy and Regulation Issues: Policy Instruments to Strengthen FTAs: Additional AfT can be used by COMESA to assist with the further simplification of Rules of Origin, improve the dispute settlement process at both the formal and informal stages and increase the amount of regional trade by providing information and creating awareness. Implement the Customs Union: COMESA has in place a Common Tariff Nomenclature and a Common External Tariff has been agreed and common customs procedures are in place. Further AfT can be used to ensure the design is optimal and will result in free movement of goods.

Trade Development: COMESA, together with other RECs in Eastern and Southern Africa, is strengthening and improving Trade Facilitation Instruments, including: Creation of more one-stop border posts; Improving customs procedures and IT harmonisation; Single Customs Document; Harmonised axle loading and vehicle dimensions; Harmonised road transit charges; Regional carriers’ license; Regional Third Party Vehicle Insurance (Yellow Card); Regional Customs Bond Guarantee System; Mechanism to remove and monitor NTBs; Common regional standards based on international standards.

Building Productive Capacity: If trade is to be a major component of economic development countries have to have something to trade with and to be able to produce at competitive prices. COMESA is assisting in this process by creating an appropriate regional environment with the regional investment area, regional competition policy and regulations and regional public procurement regulations. Trade-Related Adjustment: The COMESA Fund has two components – Infrastructure Fund and Adjustment Facility. The European Commission, under EDF9, has recently agreed to place €78 million into the COMESA Fund Adjustment Facility which will be allocated to COMESA Member States as budget support to help meet costs of adjustment.

Trade-Related Infrastructure The COMESA-SADC-EAC Task Force has approved the implementation of a Pilot Transport Corridor approach to addressing the problem of reducing the costs of getting goods to the international market, which is one of the main constraints to improving competitiveness of the region’s productive sector. The pilot is the North-South Corridor from South Africa to the Copperbelt (in Zambia and DR Congo) and to Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania. Many individual initiatives are already taking place along this corridor, in terms of improved infrastructure and trade facilitation instruments, but the pilot aims to bring these initiatives together under one umbrella and to ensure appropriate sequencing of trade facilitation instruments and required infrastructure upgrades.

North – South Corridor