ECOWAS Ministers of Finance are expected to converge in the capital city of Ghana, Accra, on Friday, November 12, 2021 to examine and approve the various Supplementary Act and the Regulations as recommended by the experts and Directors General of Customs for submission to the Council of Ministers in December 2021.

This Acts, according to ECOWAS, are meant to enhance the fluidity of intra-community trade and strengthen the Customs union across the region.

In order to ensure an effective review of these draft texts, there will be a technical meeting of the Joint ECOWAS-UEMOA Committee for the management of the ECOWAS Customs union from 8th to 10th November, 2021, the West African Regional bloc said in a statement.

This regional meeting of experts will be followed immediately by a meeting of the Directors General of Customs of ECOWAS member states on 11th November, 2021.

ECOWAS indicated that the implementation of the ECOWAS Common External Tariff (CET) on 1st January 2015 in member states following the Declaration of the Authority of Heads of State and Government at its 46th Ordinary Session held in Abuja on 15th of December, 2014, marked an important milestone in the establishment of a Customs union in the ECOWAS region. According to ECOWAS, this is in consonance with the provisions of Article 3 of the Revised ECOWAS Treaty on the establishment of a common market in the Community.

Need for reforms

“With the implementation of the CET in 14 ECOWAS member states and Mauritania and the advent of the African Continental Free Trade agreement (AfCFTA), the need to reform other equally important trade facilitation and Customs instruments to make the ECOWAS region a strong and economically competitive community has become imperative”.
ECOWAS

These trade and customs instruments, according to ECOWAS, relate to the regulation and automation of transit procedure in member states and the reforms and management of intra-community trade in ‘made-in-ECOWAS’ goods among others.

Aside from the Ministers of Finance from member states, the Directors General of Customs of ECOWAS member states, Experts from the customs and Industry/Trade/Finance experts across the ECOWAS member states, The Islamic Republic of Mauritania, ECOWAS and UEMOA Commissions are all expected to participate in the meeting.

In June 2021, ECOWAS Ministers in-charge of Air Transport with their Finance colleagues agreed to take the necessary steps to progressively reduce and eventually eliminate burdensome taxes and charges contributing to the high cost of air transportation in the region.

The meeting was part of measures to make air transportation in the West Africa Region more affordable to users in line with regional efforts to increase intra-regional trade, place ECOWAS member States in readiness to benefit from trading under the AfCFTA, as well as enhance the free movement of persons.

Taxes in the sub-region

A study conducted by ECOWAS showed that on average, each ECOWAS Member State collects about 12 different taxes and charges. Also, in comparison to other regions in Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe, the ECOWAS zone collects on average aeronautical charges and government taxes which are about 1.05 times higher than those charged in East Africa.

The study revealed that the ECOWAS Region has the most expensive aeronautical charges and government taxes for regional flights, which are 85% above average and 2.97 times higher than those charged in the cheapest area of North Africa. It is also the most expensive for an international flight which are 82.6% above average and 3.31 times higher than those of North Africa. This continues to hinder intra-regional trade within the sub-region.