APE d’étape UE-Côte d’Ivoire (2007)
ACCORD DE PARTENARIAT ÉCONOMIQUE D’ETAPE ENTRE LA CÔTE
D’IVOIRE, D’UNE PART, ET LA COMMUNAUTÉ EUROPÉENNE ET SES ETATS MEMBRES, D’AUTRE PART
Paraphé le 7 décembre 2007
Description of the agreement by the European Commission
Market Access Schedule
The coverage of liberalisation of Ivory Coast offer is 80.8% of the EC imports in value and 88.7% in tariff lines over 15 years, and over 10 years is 69.8% of the EC imports in value and 83.9% in tariff lines. All sectors are covered.
Coverage
The Agreement covers all major provisions of a trade in goods agreements such as provisions on custom duties, export taxes, a standstill clause, a non discrimination clause, trade defence instruments (anti-dumping and countervailing measures, multilateral and bilateral safeguards), special provisions on administrative cooperation in custom matters, a chapter on custom and trade facilitation, a chapter on technical barriers to trade and sanitary and phytosanitary measures as well as exception clauses.
The respective offers of the parties are set out in annexes attached to the agreement. The agreement also contains an annex on mutual administrative assistance in custom matters.
The Agreement provides that each party will apply its rules of origin in force on 01/01/08 and, in parallel, will negotiate rules of origin to be annexed to the Agreement by 01/07/2008 at the latest.
Other components
This Agreement focuses on safeguarding the market access of Ivory Coast to the EC on 01/01/2008 and avoids trade disruption which could have an important negative economic impact for this country. It hence focuses on trade in goods aspects.
The Agreement is accompanied by a political declaration and contains a preamble reaffirming the objective of concluding a global EPA with all West African countries and regional organisations. Commitment to regional integration is also reasserted. A specific Title in the Agreement identifies broad areas on which negotiations will continue in perspective of concluding a global EPA with the whole region (services, investment, competition, intellectual property, public procurement, sustainable development, protection of personal data).
The Agreement contains a Title on Development Cooperation covering priority areas of development cooperation for accompanying the implementation of this Agreement. The main areas identified are the reinforcement and upgrading of productive sectors, the cooperation in respect to fiscal adjustment, to foster the improvement of business climate, and the implementation of trade rules contained in the Agreement. The parties agree to cooperate in these areas notably in the context of the Cotonou Agreement.
Finally, the agreement contains a detailed dispute settlement mechanism, as well as general, final and institutional provisions.
