Trade Facilitation: An Analysis of the Divergences in the Legal Texts of the World Trade Organisation and the African Continental Free Trade Area

Abstract

There has been debate on whether the legal texts on trade facilitation under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) are a duplicate of the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement. This study compares the two sets of legal texts and finds that they are premised on different backgrounds. The WTO has a broader mandate on global trade and aims to ensure that trade among its members is conducted in conformity with agreed-upon rules. On the other hand, the AfCFTA has a trade agreement pursuant to the political vision of the African Union (AU) within the confines of article XXIV of GATT 1994. This article focuses on the divergences in the two sets of legal texts. While acknowledging that there are some similarities in themes and measures on trade facilitation, the study finds that the legal texts themselves are not duplicates and, in a number of cases, have different implications. This article, therefore, discusses some of the major differences between the legal texts on trade facilitation of the WTO and the AfCFTA.