WT/COMTD/RTA/11/3  
 
19 July 2019  
(19-4819) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Trade and Development  
Dedicated Session on Regional Trade Agreements  Original: English/French  
 
 ARAB MEDITERRANEAN F REE TRADE AGREEMENT (AGADIR AGREEMENT) B ETWEEN  
EGYPT, JORDAN, MOROCCO AND TUNISIA   
(GOODS)  
 
QUESTIONS AND REPLIE S 
 The following communication  is being circulated at the request of the delegations of Egypt, 
Jordan  and Morocco.  
 
 The document provides responses from Egypt, Jordan and Morocco  to the questions from the 
United States.1  
 
_______________  
 
 
Questions from the Delegation of the United States  
 
4. General provisions of the Agreement  
 
4.10 Relationship with other agreements concluded by the Parties  
 
Page 25 -26, Table 4.1 lists multiple RTAs that the Parties have not notified even though 
they have entered into force.  
 
• Egypt appears to be party to a number of agreement s that have not been noti fied 
to the WTO.   
 
• We appreciate that Egypt has notified its acc ession to the COMESA agreement. 
Does Egypt current extend preferential tariff treatment to all other Parties of 
COMESA including those whose accessions have not been notified to the WTO? If 
so, can Egypt provide a timeline for notifications of this preferential treatment?  
 
Reply from Egypt : Yes, Egypt extends its preferential tariff to all other  parties of COMESA including 
those whose accessions have not been notified to the WTO. Egypt, in its notification of accession to 
the COMESA Agreement on 3/1/2017, has notified its preferential tariff treatment to all other parties 
of COMESA. Egypt applies  the following tariff reduction on its MFN tariff rates for the COME SA 
member states on a reciprocal basis based on the COMESA preferential tariff reduction:  
 
- 90% tariff reduction: Kenya, Madagascar and Mauritius  
- 80% tariff reduction: Comoros, Eritrea, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe  
- 70% tariff reduction: Malawi  
- 60% tariff reduction: Burundi, Rwanda and Zambia  
- No tariff reduction: DRC, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Swaziland, Angola and Namibia.  
 
                                                
1 These questions, which were initially circulated in document WT/COMTD/RTA/1 1/2 along with the replies 
from Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia , were resubmitted to the Parties by the United States after the Ninth 
Dedicated Session on Regional Trade Agreeme nts held on 21 November 2018.  WT/COMTD/RTA/11/3  
 
- 2 - 
 
  • Similarly, does Egypt extend preferential tariff treat ment to all Parties to the 
PAFTA agreement? If so, can Egypt provide a timeline for notifications of this 
preferential treatment?  
Reply  from Egypt : Yes, Egypt extends its preferential tariff to all other parties of PAFTA including 
those whose accessions ha ve not been notified to the WTO. Egypt would like to refer to the fact that 
Saudi Arabia notified the WTO of the PAFTA Agreement on behalf of the other member states on 
3/10/2006.  
• The table indicates that the Jordan -Israel RTA entered into force on 19 Apri l 1996, 
but it has not been notified under WTO rules. Could Jordan please provide an 
update on the status of the required notification?  
 
Reply  from Jordan : Jordan and Israel have signed an agreement on trade and economic cooperation 
to facilitate cross bor der movement of goods and eliminate unnecessary barriers to trade. 
Accordingly, Jordan will review the notification requirements under WTO rules.  
 
• Does Jordan extend specific preferential tariff treatment to MERCOSUR under the 
MERCOSUR -Jordan Framework Agr eement? If so, can Jordan please provide an 
update on its timeline for notifying those preferences to the WTO?  
 
Reply  from Jordan : The framework agreement between MERCOSUR and the Hashemite Kingdom of 
Jordan aims to strengthen relations between the contracting parties through promoting the 
expansion of trade and providing the necessary framework and mechanisms to negotiate a free trade 
area between the contracting parties in conformity with the rules and disciplines of the World Trade 
Organization. A ccordingly, Jordan and MERCOSUR held four rounds of negotiations to establish a 
free trade agreement lastly in 2010. No agreement has been reached so far.  
 
• Does Morocco extend specific preferential tariff treatment to MERCOSUR under the 
MERCOSUR -Morocco  Framework Agreement? If so, can Morocco please provide an 
update on its timeline for notifying those preferences to the WTO?  
 
Reply from Morocco : As indicated previously, Morocco and the MERCOSUR are presently conducting 
exploratory consultations and exchanging economic data with a view to concluding a preferential 
agreement. However, currently there is no preferential agreement in force between Morocco and 
the MERCOSUR.  
 
• Could Morocco provide an update on the status of the required notification for the 
Morocco -United Arab Emirates Agreement , which entered into force on 
9 July 2003?  
 
Reply  from Morocco : The notification of the Morocco -United Arab Emirates Agreement was circulated 
on 11 July 2019  in document WT/COMTD/RTA1/N/1.  
 
• Could Morocco provide an update on the required notification for the Morocco -
Guinea Agreement?  
 
Reply from Morocco : As indicated previously, Morocco has no free trade agreement with Guinea. The 
two countries had previously signed a trade and tariff convention with Guinea in Conakry on 12  April 
1997, which entered into force on 6  September  2000.  
 
 
__________