{"id":636,"date":"2021-08-21T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-21T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/panafreeka.com\/?p=636"},"modified":"2021-08-21T16:10:25","modified_gmt":"2021-08-21T14:10:25","slug":"scope-of-the-african-continental-free-trade-area-the-afcfta-two-phased-approach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/panafreeka.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/21\/scope-of-the-african-continental-free-trade-area-the-afcfta-two-phased-approach\/","title":{"rendered":"Scope of the African Continental Free Trade Area \u2013 Part A [1 of 9]"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"636\" class=\"elementor elementor-636\" data-elementor-settings=\"[]\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-section-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-5fc029c2 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"5fc029c2\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-3a4eab71\" data-id=\"3a4eab71\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-76cf4c9d elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"76cf4c9d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p><!-- wp:heading --><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Scope of the African Continental Free Trade Area \u2013 [Part A (1 of 9)] \u2013 The AfCFTA Two phased Approach<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><!-- \/wp:heading --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:heading {\"level\":3} --><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Two Phases<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><!-- \/wp:heading --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>It has been widely reported that on the 01<sup>st<\/sup> of January 2021, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement came into effect. While this statement is true, it does not tell the whole story<strong>. A more accurate fact is that on the 01<\/strong><strong><sup>st<\/sup><\/strong><strong> of January 2021, the <\/strong><strong>first phase<\/strong><strong> of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement came into effect.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>Fellow PanAfreekans, in the next few articles publications we will be providing you with a series of articles that will provide a detailed overview of the scope of the AfCFTA Agreement and we, are kicking this off by pointing out that the AfCFTA Agreement as we know it is actually made up of two phases and while the first phase of the Agreement has come into effect from 01 January 2021, there is a second phase that will require a series of negotiations that will come into effect at a later date.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:heading {\"level\":3} --><\/p>\n<h3><strong>The Two Phased Approach of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><!-- \/wp:heading --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:image {\"id\":637,\"sizeSlug\":\"large\",\"linkDestination\":\"none\"} --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" class=\"wp-image-637\" src=\"https:\/\/panafreeka.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Two-Phased-Approach-to-the-AfCFTA-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/panafreeka.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Two-Phased-Approach-to-the-AfCFTA-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/panafreeka.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Two-Phased-Approach-to-the-AfCFTA-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/panafreeka.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Two-Phased-Approach-to-the-AfCFTA-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/panafreeka.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Two-Phased-Approach-to-the-AfCFTA.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<p><!-- \/wp:image --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>This diagram illustrates the two phases. Phase 1 (green items) consists of everything that became effective on the 01<sup>st<\/sup> of January 2021 while phase 2 (red items) consists of everything that will be adopted at a later stage.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>To further illustrate, in terms of Article 6 of the (Continental Free Trade) Agreement, the scope of this agreement covers the following <strong>protocols<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:list --><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Trade in goods,\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Trade in services,\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Investment<\/li>\n<li>Intellectual Property rights<\/li>\n<li>Competition policy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:list --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>However, in the very next section of the agreement (Article 7), it does cite that member states still need to enter into\u00a0 Phase 2 negotiations (which will commence only after the adoption of the Agreement) for:<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:list --><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Investment<\/li>\n<li>Intellectual Property rights<\/li>\n<li>Competition policy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:list --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>These protocols (both phase 1 and phase 2) may have associated Annexes and Appendices and (and in future may include additional instruments within the scope of the Agreement). All of these documents however form an integral part of the Agreement and the principle of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wto.org\/english\/tratop_e\/dda_e\/work_organi_e.htm#:~:text=Single%20undertaking%3A%20Virtually%20every%20item,agreed%20until%20everything%20is%20agreed%E2%80%9D.\">single undertaking<\/a> thus applies for all member states that are bound by the Agreement.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>In future articles, we intend to provide an overview of the Phase 1 protocols (i.e. protocols on trade in goods, services and rules and procedures on the settlement of dispute), their associated annexes and appendices where applicable. We hope at a later time in future to also incorporate an overview of phase 2 protocols (i.e. protocols on investment, intellectual property rights and competition policy) in later publications.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><strong>References (Ref.)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:list {\"ordered\":true} --><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area \u2013 African Union\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Protocol on Trade in Goods<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.itac.org.za\/pages\/services\/trade-remedies\">http:\/\/www.itac.org.za\/pages\/services\/trade-remedies<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:list --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Useful Links (UL)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:list {\"ordered\":true} --><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area \u2013 African Union\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Protocol on Trade in Goods<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bdc.ca\/en\/articles-tools\/entrepreneur-toolkit\/templates-business-guides\/glossary\/technical-barriers-to-trade\">https:\/\/www.bdc.ca\/en\/articles-tools\/entrepreneur-toolkit\/templates-business-guides\/glossary\/technical-barriers-to-trade<\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong>http:\/\/tfig.unece.org\/contents\/gatt-v.html#:~:text=WTO%20GATT%20Article%20Vdefines%20international,warehousing%2C%20breaking%20bulk%2C%20or%20change<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:list --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:image {\"id\":638,\"sizeSlug\":\"large\",\"linkDestination\":\"none\"} --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><\/figure>\n<p><!-- \/wp:image --><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It has been widely reported that on the 01st of January 2021, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement came into effect. While this statement is true, it does not tell the whole story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":639,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[25],"tags":[8,14,15,10,7,19],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v16.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Scope of the African Continental Free Trade Area \u2013 The AfCFTA Two phased Approach<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It has been widely reported that on the 01st of January 2021, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement came into effect. While this statement is true, it does not tell the whole story. 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