Kingdom to host 3rd COMESA meet
Times of Swaziland
Kingdom to host 3rd COMESA meet
11 May 2011
By Linda Jele
MBABANE – Swaziland will next week host the third meeting of the COMESA committee on the Customs Union.
COMESA is an acronym for the Common Market for East and Southern Africa. The five-day meeting was approved by Cabinet yesterday.
According to a press statement on the Cabinet resolutions, it will commence on Monday May 16 to 20, 2011.
Government Press Secretary, Macanjana Motsa in the statement said Swaziland is hosting the meeting by virtue of being the current Chair of COMESA.
She said since it is chair-ing COMESA, the country is required to spearhead and host some of the COMESA programmes and meetings.
"Due to this responsibility, Cabinet has approved that the country hosts the third meeting of the COM- ESA Committee on the Customs Union," reads the statement.
She also said the meeting will discuss among other issues, reviews of a study on the implications of alignment for the member states.
Tariffs
She states it will particularly review member states that have a substantial number of their tariffs below the adopted COMESA Common External Tariff (CET) and a study on additional five per cent tariff fifth band to the CET in COMESA.
She further said the meeting will also address the status of member states’ implementation of various Customs Union decisions including Migration to the COMESA CTN and submission of lists of sensitive products.
She said it will also address tariff alignment schedules to the COMESA CET and National programmes on domestication of the Customs Management Regulations.
Motsa also said the meeting will receive reports from member states on the status of their implementation of the transition period, mechanisms put in place and ways forward.
The meeting will also address the mid-term review to assess what has been accomplished so far and outstanding issues in light of the Council decisions, and to examine the state of implementation of the transition period for the Customs Union, and other various key trade and customs programmes.
