COMESA to ease the movement of goods within the region

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· The electronic certificate of origin (eCO) System, is expected to fast-track movement of goods, enhancing intra-regional trade

· The new plan proposes to do away with registration, application and submission of certificates for the post-verification of goods.

Fifteen members of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) has decided to join together to pilot a new project to facilitate the movement of goods within the region’s trading bloc. The electronic certificate of origin (eCO) System, is expected to fast-track movement of goods, enhancing intra-regional trade. The new plan proposes to do away with registration, application and submission of certificates for post-verification of goods.

Exporters within the Comesa Free Trade Area (FTA) Certificates of origin can avail preferential treatment to goods originating from an FTA member State. Truckers with eCO certificates will be exempted from the audit of their cargo via a manual verification process.

The scheme was approved after a meeting of member States last week to develop national piloting plans to ensure that electronic certificates are implemented as early as possible Comesa trade and customs director Christopher Onyango said that the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic called for speedy implementation of the Comesa eCO by all member States. eCO is expected to spur intraregional trade and attract more investments into the region. The countries that have come together in eCO are Burundi, DR Congo, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Tunisia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

A technical working group (TWG) on rules of origin (RoO) is also working on easing rules to facilitate the implementation of the Comesa eCO and other trade facilitation instruments. It is expected that RoO will be the foundation for the effective application of preferences towards member States. Dr Onyango observed that despite the preferences offered under the FTA, intraComesa stood at eight percent of total trade, compared to Africa’s 15 percent, America’s 47 percent, Asia’s 61 percent and Europe’s 67percent.