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Trade
  • News article
  • 19 May 2022
  • Geneva
  • Directorate-General for Trade
  • 1 min read

EU and Union of Comoros sign deal on WTO accession

The EU and the Union of Comoros signed today in Geneva a deal concluding their bilateral market access negotiations on services and goods as part of Comoros’ accession process to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Accession to the WTO is expected to make a lasting contribution to the process of stabilisation, economic reform and sustainable development in Comoros.

The bilateral deal – signed by EU Ambassador João Aguiar Machado and Comoros’ Minister for Economy, Industry, Investments and Economic integration, Mzé Abdou Mohamed Chanfiou – provides for lower tariffs for goods and for opening up services markets once the Union of Comoros joins the WTO. These commitments will then be embodied in the future Protocol of Accession of the Union of Comoros to the WTO. Comoros applied for membership of the WTO in February 2007 and the first Working Party meeting took place on 2 December 2016. The bilateral deal was signed on the margins of the seventh Working Party on the Accession of the Union of the Comoros to the WTO, taking place in Geneva on 19 May 2022.

Background

The EU is the Comoros' main economic partner, accounting for 43.2% of its exports and 26.2% of its imports in 2021. The total value of EU goods exported to Comoros was €70 million, while imports from Comoros amounted to €7 million. Comoros mainly supplies the EU market with vegetable products, transport equipment, and products of the chemical or allied industries. The main EU exports to Comoros are animal products, machinery and appliances, and transport equipment.

Comoros is part of the Eastern and South Africa (ESA) Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the EU, which was signed in 2017 and ratified by Comoros in 2019. Under the EPA, the EU grants Comoros full duty-free, quota-free access to its Single Market for all originating products, while Comoros committed to progressively lift customs duties on EU products at the latest in 2024.

Further information

WTO | Accession status: Comoros

Details

Publication date
19 May 2022
Author
Directorate-General for Trade
Location
Geneva
Country or region
  • Comoros
  • Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA)
Trade topics
  • Importing into the EU
  • Trade policy