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Issue #: 482_13th April 2016
Regional Courts bolster
rules-based integration
R
egional courts are increasingly becoming
important in entrenching rules-based
governance for regional trade and integration
by ensuring the protection of private party
rights.
Delegates attending the annual Trade Law
Centre (TRALAC) conference in Swakopmund,
Namibia, April 7-8 April 2016, were informed
that since only States are the parties to trade
and regional integration agreements private
parties have always faced problems.
The conference attracted participants from the
public and private sectors from the eastern and
southern Africa region. They included technical
officers from the Common Market for Eastern
and Southern Africa (COMESA) and Southern
Africa Development Community (SADC).
Chair of Tralac Mr George Lipimile (C), Registrar of the COMESA Court Ms. Nyambura Mbatia (L) and Tripartite FTA
Coordinator Ms. Zodwa Mabuza.
providers and investors who frequently suffer
the consequences when such agreements are
violated,” Prof. Gerhard Erasmus of the TRALAC
said at the opening of the conference.
“There is in fact double jeopardy; they do not
normally enjoy standing before the international
dispute settlement fora such as the Dispute
Settlement Unit of the World Trade Organization;
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The chairman of the TRALAC board Mr. George
Lipimile who is also the Chief Executive Officer
of the COMESA Competition Commission officially
opened the conference.
Delegates at the conference observed that
the private sector has in recent years brought
cases before national and regional courts
claiming their rights emanating out of regional
agreements. This development, which has been
observed in eastern and southern Africa, has
been described as constructive as it provides
insights for rules-based governance of trade
and integration in Africa.
“Private parties derived no rights from regional
agreements yet they are the traders, service
His Excellency President Salvar Kiir welcoming COMESA Secretary General Sindiso Ngwenya at State House in Juba
on 12th April 2016 for a bilateral meeting
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Regional Courts bolster....
continued from page 1
“The quest by private parties to resolve
disputes and hold governments accountable for
the commitments that they have undertaken,
can make an important contribution to the
development of rules-based governance for
trade and integration in Africa,” the Executive
Director of TRALAC, Ms Trudi Hartzenberg
observed.
File photo/ CAF/RISM signing in Mauritius.
COMESA Court Judges and staff of the Court and Secretariat visiting Walvis Bay port in Namibia during the Tralac conference
only states are parties to such disputes.
The COMESA Court of Justice which was
represented at the TRALAC conference by five
judges and the Registrar was cited for praise
for its landmark ruling in a matter involving a
private company and the State of Mauritius. The
judgment was made in favour of the company;
Polytol Paints in 2013.
More recently, the COMESA Court found that
policies, delegates noted that the benefits of
trade and economic integration depended on
the commercial activities of private parties
across borders. Hence private sector activities
ensured the economic gains that underpinned
free trade and integration efforts.
it has jurisdiction to hear a case between
Malawi Mobile (a mobile company incorporate
in Malawi) and the government of Malawi. An
appeal by the government is still to be decided.
Similarly, the East African Court was cited for
taking up a significant number of cases relating
to the fundamental and operational principles
enshrined in the EAC Treaty.
Urging for deeper inclusion of the private sector
in the formulation of regional trade laws and
The conference agreed that there was room for
private party participation in enforcement of the
Treaties’ provision at the national level through
litigation in national and regional courts and
lobbying for the enhancement of Panel process
that deal with Non-Tariff Barriers.
The key issues in focus at the conference
were: rules-based governance in African
trade and integration; safeguards and trade
remedies; standards; private litigation, dispute
resolution and community law developments and
connecting Africa for competitiveness.
COMESA/LLPI joins International Leather Body
individual members.
The COMESA Leather and Leather Products
Institute (LLPI) has become a full member
of the International Union of Leather
Technologists and Chemists Societies (IULTCS).
The union aims at fostering cooperation
between member societies, hold congresses
to further the advancement of leather science
and technology, form commissions for special
studies and to establish international methods
of samples and testing leather and materials
associated with leather manufacture.
Executive Director LLPI, Prof. Mwinyikione
Mwinyihija said COMESA member States that
include Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan,
Uganda and Zambia will benefit from this new
development.
“With continued growth of leather
manufacturing in the Central and Southern
Africa regions, it is important that the voice
of this region be heard in global technical
discussions and we make a contribution
towards the technical direction taken by
industry,” Dr Mwinyihija said.
The IULTCS is a world-wide organization of
COMESA weekly newsletter
Prof. Mwinyikione Mwinyihija
professional societies which was originally
organized in London in 1897. Currently, the
organisation has 17 Member Societies and 4
Associate Members representing some 3000
In welcoming the LLPI, the IULTC President
Dr. Dietrich Tegtmeyer said: “On behalf of the
Executive Committee I am pleased to welcome
this new member and look forward to their
active participation in IULTCS activities.”
The LLPI is based in Addis Ababa Ethiopia and
strongly promotes and supports the leather
industry in COMESA countries.
COMESA States rank high in the new integration index
T
he Africa Regional Integration Index (ARII),
of intra-regional flights, amongst
which is Africa’s first effort to measure
others.
progress on regional integration, was launched
last week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The index
Countries that scored highly in a
launched during African Development Week
number of dimensions under the
ranked Kenya as the most integrated country
category of “broadly integrated”
in the eastern and southern African region of
include Kenya, South Africa,
all the regional economic communities.
Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon.
In COMESA, Zambia comes
Kenya which is a key member of both the
second to Kenya with Uganda
EAC and COMESA topped in three of the four
and Egypt following in that
regional economic communities (RECs) in
order. Countries are considered
which it is a member. Save for the Community
‘broadly integrated,’ when it is
of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD), Kenya
strongly integrated on three or
was the best performer in regional integration
more of the dimensions, showing
in the East African Community (EAC), the
a breadth of diversity in their
Common Market for Eastern and Southern
integration agenda
Africa (COMESA) and the Inter-governmental
Authority on Development (IGAD).
Findings show that while progress
is being made with 28 top
The country scored highly in trade integration,
performing countries across
meaning its level of customs duty on imports
the eight Regional Economic
was low, and it also had a huge share of intra-
Communities, average integration
regional trade goods.
scores stand at below half of
the scale. The EAC was ranked
The ARII is a collaborative effort between the
top among the eight RECS in the
African Development Bank (AfDB), the African
continent.
Union Commission (AUC) and the Economic
Commission for Africa (ECA). It seeks to collect
Additionally, Africa has a
data on the impacts of regional integration.
significant way to go if all
countries are to reach the
Although regional integration is often
frontier of what the best
quoted as a key component of economic
performers are achieving in the
transformation, up until now, no mechanisms
area of regional integration.
existed to systematically measure how different
African countries and regions fared. This
The greatest divergence in
flagship report assesses the current situation
regional performance is in the
on the continent and highlights gaps and best
area of financial integration
practices.
and macroeconomic policy
convergence. Interestingly,
The ARII looks at 16 indicators across five
countries with the largest
broad dimensions, which are: trade integration,
economies do not always perform
productive integration, regional infrastructure,
the best, says the report.
free movement of people, and financial
(Excerpts from East African
integration. The indicators measure important
Business Week/The Standard)
aspects such as share of intra-regional trade
as a percentage of total trade, and proportion
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Zambia’s cotton sector gets a boost as
Handloom Project wins support
A
Handloom Cluster pilot project that will
enable Zambia’s farmers add value to
their cotton and generate higher incomes
and reduce poverty has been launched. The
project is supported by the International Trade
Centre (ITC) in collaboration with COMESA, the
Government of the Republic of Zambia and
other key stakeholders.
The project is financed by the European Union
Development Fund’s (9th and 10th EDF)
Regional Integration Support Mechanism
program under COMESA’s Adjustment Facility
(CAF-RISM).
ITC’s Programme Manager for Cotton, Textiles
and Clothing Sector Competitiveness Matthias
Knappe said the project aims to help farmers
understand the cotton to fabric value chain.
Speaking at the Stakeholders Dissemination
workshop organized by ITC and the Cotton
Association of Zambia (CAZ) in Lusaka,
Zambia, Mr. Knappe said the project sponsored
eight hand weavers to India to upgrade their
weaving skills using handloom equipment.
“We are working with COMESA ‘s CAF-RISM
to develop the Regional COMESA Cotton to
Cloth Strategies as a guiding document for
implementation of value addition by cotton
farmers”, Mr. Knappe said.
He said the project is piloting the Cotton to
Clothing strategies in Zambia by building
capacity of cotton farmers and Hand-weavers
in terms of product development, design and
marketing and linking them to key stakeholders
in the cotton value chain.
Zambia’s Minister of Commerce and Trade, Mrs
Margaret Mwanakatwe thanked ITC, COMESA
and other Cooperating Partners for supporting
the country’s farmers to embark on value
addition in the cotton sector.
COMESA weekly newsletter
Trained weavers displaying value added cotton products at the Dissemination Workshop at Southern Sun Hotel,
Lusaka, Zambia.
In a speech read on her behalf by Mrs Lilian
Bwalya, Director Foreign Trade, the Minister
said her government was committed to
supporting the cotton sector because of
its potential to empower small scale cotton
farmers through wealth creation.
We are working with
COMESA ‘s CAF-RISM to
develop the Regional
COMESA Cotton to
Cloth Strategies as a
guiding document for
implementation of
value addition by cotton
farmers”, Mr. Knappe said.
Zambia’s Regional Integration Capacity
Building Project (ZRICBP) supported by the EU
through COMESA’s CAF-RISM has prioritized
value addition for sectors such as leather,
Textiles and Clothing as they are considered
labour intensive and suitable to reduce
unemployment.
During the Stakeholder Dissemination meeting,
delegates discussed the way forward for the
development of the handloom industry in
Zambia and the formation of the Handloom
Textiles and Technology Association of Zambia
(HTTA).
COMESA was represented at the meeting by
Aid for Trade Unit Coordinator Mrs. Hope
Situmbeko, COMAID Project Manager Kervin
Kumapley and Dr. Yoseph Mamo (Industry and
Agriculture Division).
CBTA moves to bring order at
Kasumbalesa border town.
cross border traders
who are trading along
the road as pedestrians
are now forced to use
the main road, which is
causing more congesting
to the already congested
main road.
Meanwhile, the Congo
DR and Zambia CBTAs,
briefed the meeting
that they have already
identified market places
named the “COMESA
market” and what
was required was to
finalize the necessary
arrangements with the
Kasumbalesa border market
T
regional and district
he Cross Border Traders’ Association at the
environment and contaminate other tradable
Kasumbalesa border point on the Zambian
administrators. What remains are funds to
goods. Most of these are agricultural products.
develop these places into a designated market.
order among Small Scale Cross traders and
The meeting agreed that all traders should
enhance sanitary standards. The move follows
The developments at the Kasumbalesa border
be compelled to abide by the law to assist
recent outbreak of diseases such as cholera
posts have triggered the need for legal
in the smooth running of the markets. Some
during the current rainy season.
documentations to allow the traders to conduct
of the laws address trading of healthy
their business in a more peaceful manner. To
foodstuff for human consumption, avoiding
A recent CBTA (Zambia) stakeholders meeting
this effect two documents shall be given to
night trading activities, the importance of
in Kasumbalesa on 8 April, 2016, that brought
the Kasumbalesa residents on both sides of
designated market, enhancing the CBTAs
together more than 40 traders along with DR
the border who wish to undertake small scale
collaboration between both countries, the
Congo government border agencies at the
cross border trade (Ghetto and Permit).
importance of having the right documentations
Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) Kasumbalesa
and sensitization of small scale cross border
office served as the forum to addresses these
Ghetto is a border pass for 48 hrs or so given
traders.
by the immigration office at 200 DRC francs or
and D R Congolese has moved to introduce
challenges.
two Zambian kwacha per crossing. This pass
Meanwhile the association has called on
The participants discussed how to address
can be given to Kasumbalesa residents that
relevant security authorities to help enhance
illegal street vending (on Zambian side), and
cross the border and they can either buy or
the safety of the traders at the border as the
how to ensure traders conduct their business
sell but users are not allowed to do both. A
current situation is untenable owing to an
in a clean environment especially those selling
permit can be given to Kasumbalesa residents
influx of street vendors along the road. This
various perishable foodstuff, which litters the
who wish to undertake trading activities after
has raised concern of safety for the small scale
confirmation of their membership to CBTA.
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