Regional free trade agreements
Cameroon has signed four regional free trade agreements, notably within the framework of the African Economic Community with the other member countries of the African Union (Abuja Treaty in 1981 and the AfCFTA in 2018), the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (1964 and revised in 1994), the Economic Community of Central African States (1983 and revised in 2019), the Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union (2008) and the Economic Partnership Agreement with the United Kingdom (2021).
The African continental free trade zone agreement
At continental level, Cameroon shares the vision of the African Heads of State and Government who signed the treaty establishing the African Economic Community (Abuja Treaty) in 1991. In January 2012, the 18th Assembly of Heads of State of the African Union (AU) adopted a decision on the creation of an African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Following negotiations launched in June 2015 in South Africa, the Agreement establishing the AfCFTA was signed on 21 March 2018 in Kigali by 44 countries. At present, the Agreement has been signed by 54 countries and ratified by 44, including Cameroon.
The Agreement entered into force on May 30, 2019. The opening of borders is therefore effective from 1 January 2021. In practical terms, this agreement aims to create a liberalized market for trade in goods and services.
It is based on the following instruments, which correspond to its annexes: schedules of tariff concessions; rules of origin; customs cooperation and mutual administrative assistance; trade facilitation; non-tariff barriers; technical barriers to trade; sanitary and phytosanitary measures; transit; and trade remedies.
Thus, the AfCFTA agreement identifies three groups of products:
• Firstly, the group of products described as «non-sensitive», comprising 90% of tariff lines, which will have to be liberalized over a period of 5 years for non-LDCs and 10 years for LDCs.
• Next, «sensitive» products, representing 7% of tariff lines, will be liberalized over a period of 10 years for non-LDCs and 13 years for LDCs.
• Finally, products «excluded» from liberalization, representing 3% of tariff lines.
Cameroon has produced a common list of tariff concessions with the other CEMAC countries following national and regional consultations. The group of non-sensitive products contains 5254 tariff lines. By contrast, the number of tariff lines in the groups of sensitive products and products excluded from liberalisation are 408 and 175 respectively. Products excluded from liberalisation include, for example, wheat, maize f lour, crude palm oil, refined palm oil, sugars, chewing gum, sweets, pasta, natural fruit juices, portland cement, cement glues, hair relaxants, toilet soaps
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