Comesa calls for urgent action on tariff harmonisation

Nompelo Ndzimela
THE COMMON Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) has called for an urgent regional customs union to help stimulate growth in the manufacturing industry and increase trade, according to a report from Reuters.
At its first business summit in Kampala, Uganda, Sudanese President Omar el Bashir told delegates: “We must move without further delay to launch a customs union with a common external tariff by the end of this year. It would truly be the crowning of the long road we have travelled together.”
While 10-year old COMESA stretches from Zimbabwe to Egypt, South Africa is not one of its members. COMESA’s goal of creating a free trade area has been obstructed by considerable delays in the harmonisation of national tariff structures, which are a prerequisite to establishing a free trade area, the report said.