Signatory countries of Agadir declaration on Arab FTA hold meeting in amman

A committee of experts representing the four signatory countries of the Agadir Declaration, namely Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia, held a meeting in Amman Wednesday and Thursday to define technicalities and schedules to enforce the Declaration, setting up a free trade zone between Arab-Mediterranean countries.

The experts recommended to signatory countries, pending the drafting of the agreement of the free trade area, to implement the accords signed at the bilateral level. They recommended that trade exchanges between the four countries be operated on the basis of the provisions of the bilateral accords and the concerned countries should abstain from imposing any new customs taxes on products and goods.

The committee of experts will hold a meeting in Tunisia in January to further examine the draft agreement of the free trade area. The agreement is scheduled to be definitively approved in the course of the first half of 2002.

The Agadir Declaration, signed last May by the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia, sets up a free trade zone between Arab-Mediterranean countries. The free trade zone will be extended to six other Arab countries, namely Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine.

The FTA agreement, signed ahead of the 2010 target for trade barriers to end in the Euro-Mediterranean area, is meant to consolidate the negotiation ability and competitiveness of Arab-Mediterranean countries, whether those already bound to the European Union by association accords, those having economic relations with it, such as Palestine, or those negotiating partnership accords with the Union.

The EU has conducted negotiations with 12 Mediterranean states as part of the Barcelona process of cooperation between the EU and its southern neighbors.

The association agreements call for closer economic, political and social ties. The ultimate goal is to establish a Euro-Mediterranean free trade zone of 27 countries by 2010.

Bilateral free trade accords between several Arab countries were already signed and Tunisia, Morocco, Jordan, Egypt and Algeria have already signed association agreements with the EU.