On 03 December 2024, the World Customs Organization (WCO) advised that in a continuous effort to facilitate intra-African trade, the WCO-EU Rules of Origin Africa Programme, in partnership with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, had launched a new Rules of Origin (RoO) module to complement the AfCFTA’s flagship market access tool: the AfCFTA e-Tariff Book.
The AfCFTA e-Tariff Book is a web-based resource that provides businesses with essential tariff and rules of origin information. This new tool complements the existing AfCFTA website, which already offers information on the legal provisions applicable under the AfCFTA Agreement, including Annex I on the tariff concessions and Annex II on RoO to the Protocol on Trade in Goods. This tool and its new add-on are critical for accurate and reliable trade information accessibility.
The 2024 edition of the PAFTRAC Africa CEO Trade Survey Report revealed that a staggering 70% of participating African business leaders had declared having no or low access to relevant AfCFTA information for business purposes. Additionally,
“[v]ery few of our participants said that their company had great access to relevant AfCFTA information for business purposes, suggesting that the required information was not easily accessible”, PAFTRAC CEO Survey 2024
These findings highlight the urgent need for accessible and user-friendly resources to help businesses navigate the complex landscape of intra-African trade.
The augmented AfCFTA e-Tariff Book is designed to fill this gap by serving as a one-stop shop for essential AfCFTA market access information.
Although the RoO module add-on is an important milestone, it also necessitates extensive awareness-raising and dissemination campaigns, as only 10% of survey respondents indicated that they were fully aware of the AfCFTA e-Tariff Book.
The AfCFTA e-Tariff Book effectively displays applicable tariff rates and RoO for any tariff line between AfCFTA member states, making it essential for businesses expanding across the continent. Its user-friendly interface allows companies to search using Harmonized System (HS) codes or product descriptions. It provides detailed information for each member state, facilitating cross-border trade.
Following the joint Programme-AfCFTA Secretariat partnership’s milestone with the launch of the AfCFTA E-Tariff Book and the Rules of Origin Manual in 2022, the Programme is committed to continue working with the AfCFTA Secretariat to enhance information access, capacity building, and policy support for a seamless implementation of the AfCFTA.