In 1981, an agreement was signed to facilitate and promote intra-Arab trade, but it had little effect. The agreement aims to create a free trade area between Member States and to increase intra-EU trade, on the one hand, and with the European Union, on the other. It also aims to improve industrial integration between Arab Mediterranean countries through the implementation of pan-Euro-Mediterranean rules of origin and the application of the principle of cumulation of origin. This will increase Member States` export capacity to the EU market and increase their attractiveness for more foreign and European direct investment. The Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA) is a pan-Arab free trade area established in 1997. It was founded by 14 countries: Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates. [5] [6] The creation of GAFTA follows the adoption of the “Agreement on the Facilitation and Development of Trade among Arab Countries” (1981) by the Economic and Social Council of the Arab League (ETUC) and the approval of the “Agreement on the Greater Arab Free Trade Area” (1997) by seventeen Member States of the Arab League at a summit in Amman, in Jordan. In 2009, Algeria joined GAFTA as the eighteenth Member State. GAFTA is monitored and operated by ESC.
[7] The “Agadir Agreement” establishing a free trade area between the Arab Mediterranean countries was signed on February 25, 2004 in Rabat, Morocco. [3] The agreement aimed to establish free trade between Jordan, Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco, which was seen as the potential first step in the formation of the Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area under the Barcelona Process. [4] Products prohibited (marketed) by religious, environmental, safety and health products prohibited from trade are excluded. The Arab Customs Union was announced by the Arab League in 2009 to achieve a customs union in 2015 and an Arab common market in 2020 to increase trade and integration among member countries of the Greater Arab Free Trade Area. Trade (GAFTA). The Council of Arab Economic Unity (CAEU) (Arabic: مجلس الوحدة الاقتصادي العربي) was established on 30 May 1964 by Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, after the Economic Council of the Arab League concluded an agreement in 1957. [1] The Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA) or Pan-Arab Free Trade Area was established by the Economic and Social Council of the Arab League with the aim of improving trade facilitation, promoting intra-regional trade, economic unity and liberalization, and removing technical barriers to trade between 17 Arab countries: learning materials in or Gran Zona Árabe de Libre Comercio (GAFTA) Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GZALE) Grande Área Árabe by Livre-Comércio (GAFTA). Intra-regional trade between Arab countries is dominated by Saudi exports (oil-related products). The Arab League has long tried to promote trade and economic cooperation among its member states, with several initiatives taken in the 1950s and 1960s. In February 1997, the League decided to create an Arab Free Trade Area by 2008, also known as the Greater Arab Free Trade Area or Pan-Arab Free Trade Area. This would be achieved through a 10 per cent annual reduction in tariffs and the gradual elimination of trade barriers.
Eighteen of the 22 States of the Arab League signed the agreement, which entered into force on 1 January 1998. For the complete list of seal samples and signatures of persons authorized to issue and ratify certificates of origin in Lebanon, please click here to access the Arabic section. According to the 3. Article 2 is the responsibility of the signatories to the Economic Unity Agreement to work towards achieving the objectives set out in Article 1: in March 2001 it was decided to speed up the liberalisation process, and on 1 January 2005 the abolition of most tariffs among AALPA members was implemented. The GAFTA Free Trade Agreement applies to industrial, agricultural and animal products (excluding taxes). .