COMESA begins implementing trade remedies regulations to tame unfair practices
COMESA has begun the comprehensive implementation of its Trade Remedies Regulations, aimed at recommending measures to prevent potential losses that its Member States might incur due to unfair trading practices and unforeseen surges in imports during business transactions.
The Regulations were adopted way back in 2000, but their application has largely been concentrated in the enforcement of the Safeguard Measures. Specifically, the Regulations together with the COMESA Treaty have been useful in the management and application of the Kenya Sugar Safeguard measures. These have effectively been applied to protect the country’s sugar sector.
The full implementation of the regulations follows the inaugural meeting of the Trade Remedies Committee, which commenced on April 24, 2024. This committee was established as directed by the COMESA Council of Ministers during its 44th meeting in November last year, to ensure wider coverage of remedies.
The operationalization of the Committee signifies the beginning of the implementation of the trade remedies regulations. It is expected to promote fairness and stimulate intra-regional trade within the COMESA free trade area (FTA), which currently consists of 16 participating Member States.
Dr. Mohamed Kadah, COMESA’s Assistant Secretary-General in charge of programs, noted;
“Trade liberalization alone cannot deliver anticipated benefits to all Member States equally. There are bound to be winners and losers in the trading arena.”
In a statement delivered by the Director of Trade, Dr Christopher Onyango, Dr Kadah cited the lack of effective product diversification and existence of Non-Tariff Barriers in the region as some of the key challenges to intra-regional trade, hence the relevance of the COMESA trade remedy regulations.
Apart from the safeguard mechanisms, the trade remedy regulations cover such areas as anti-dumping, subsidies and countervailing measures, dispute settlement and other related areas.
“Many if not all these issues are likely to arise time and again and affect Member States participation in the COMESA region,” said Dr Kadah.
He called on the Committee to ensure that implementation of the FTA regime and more specifically implementation of the COMESA Treaty and the COMESA Remedy Regulations are well-coordinated and implemented across the region in a way that does not disadvantage any Member State or sectors.
The implementation of Kenya sugar safeguard measures provided valuable and practical experiences in COMESA and the region in encouraging fair intra-regional trade prospered while protecting vulnerable industries from adverse effects of trade liberalization.
The Committee’s two-day virtual meeting will also discuss its draft Rules of Procedure and Terms of Reference. Additionally, the Kenya Report on the status of implementation of sugar safeguard measures will be reviewed. The report on the allocation of Sugar Quotas for the year 2024 will also be presented.
