Last week, The World Tariff Profiles 2024 was published by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in collaboration with the International Trade Centre (ITC) and UN Trade and Development (ex-UNCTAD). This instrument describes the tariff and non-tariff measures imposed by more than 170 countries and customs territories in the world. But what is the data showing us now?

Heterogeneity of Most-Favored Nation (MFN) Average Tariffs in Africa: MFN tariffs are the tariff rates that a country applies to imports from all its trading partners that are not part of a preferential trade agreement (such as a free trade area or customs union). Practically they’re the highest (most restrictive) tariffs that a country can charge on imports. In the case of #SADC the #average #MFN rate vary significantly across and within countries.

Excluding DRC and Zimbabwe for which data is not available, the #average MFN rate is 13%; Mauritius has the lowest average MFN rate (0.8%) and Angola has the highest MFN rate (59%). Mozambique’s MFN rate stands below the regional average (10.3%).

There are also variations of MFN average rates at country level. For example, #Mozambique’s rates range from a minimum of 5.3% (mechanical, office and machinery equipment) to a maximum of 19.8% (fish and fish products).

Plus, this year’s edition also provides an in-depth analysis of tariffs on critical #minerals (including graphite produced by African countries like #Mozambique) essential for the #electric #vehicle (EV) value chain.

Since 2016, the European Union supported the Government of Angola to diversify its exports away from oil and diamonds with a focus on the SADC market. This support was materialized through the ACOM technical assistance Programme with implementation by UNCTAD and the IBF International Consulting. This week, after nearly 8 years of implementation, key national stakeholders – government, private sector, civil society and academy – gathered to discuss the main results and lessons learned. Samuel, our Managing Director, led the evaluation team!

The Mozambique Chamber of Commerce (CCM) in partnership with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MIC) and the Tax Authority (AT) held a consultation session with businesspeople this Wednesday, March 6^th, in preparation for the Seminar on the Tariff Offer Proposal of Mozambique within the scope of the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA). In the session, CCM, MIC and AT reflected on the tariff regime that Mozambique proposes to offer to the AFCFTA.

As part of the public consultation process, the Tax Authority (AT), through the Reforms Unit, was responsible for presenting to businesspeople the proposal that Mozambique intends to submit, highlighting the customs disarmament schedule, the categorization of products and the rules of origin to be applied. The Coordinator of the Tax Authority team, Eurico Mueio, reiterated that, as businesspeople, it is necessary to pay more attention to the categorization of approximately 5811 products to assess their correct inclusion, based on each of the categories on the disarmament agenda, and thus avoid some previously recorded errors.

For the General Secretary of the CCM, Teresa Muenda, the consultation ensured the inclusion of businesspeople in the decision-making processes that will influence the rules of this market and the preparation of economic agents for the opportunities and challenges that emerge with the AFCFTA. It also allowed us to gather contributions on how to make the African market more dynamic and the customs process accessible to businesspeople.

For the MIC’s Deputy National Director of Foreign Trade, Ali Mussa, it is important to gather contributions from the private sector on the proposed tariffs already stipulated, before submission and approval by national higher authorities and their deposit at the AFCFTA Secretariat, since, this is one of the conditions for Mozambique to trade with other member countries.

The proposed tariff offer should be submitted to the Council of Ministers in the coming days, after the validation seminar, to take place on March 13th.

Between the 21st and 23rd of June 2023, the Annual Conference of the Private Sector of Mozambique (CASP) was held, which included a session dedicated to business opportunities resulting from the Economic Partnership Agreement (APE) between SADC and the Union European Union (EU), of which Mozambique is a signatory. It was a session where the growth potential for Mozambican companies that intend to import from or export to the EU was explored. The session was organized by Promove Comércio, a project funded by the European Union in Mozambique, and was co-facilitated by the SETA team: Samuel Zita (Managing Partner) and Mateus Chale (Associate Consultant).

Within the scope of this project, two important instruments were developed to guide public and private entities. The first is the “Toolkit to Use and Implement the Economic Partnership Agreement (APE) between Mozambique and the European Union (EU)”, aimed at public entities with the mandate to support the private sector on a day-to-day basis. The second instrument is the “Export Guide – How to Export Successfully to the European Market from Mozambique”, specially designed for the private sector with an interest in the EU market. This guide provides practical information helping Mozambican companies with useful tools linked to the opportunities offered by the European market.

On 4 July 2023, Trademark Africa and UNCTAD joined forces and facilitated a Round Table in Maputo, Mozambique, focusing on cross-border, informal and small-scale trade (CTIPE) in Mozambique (The case of the Ressano Garcia border post between Mozambique and South Africa). This event was held in partnership with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and benefited from valuable contributions from associations of informal and small-scale traders involved in cross-border trade.

Topics discussed included (1) the profile of traders, (2) challenges faced by traders at the border post, (3) an action plan for the government to simplify customs procedures and facilitate CTIPE, (4) experiences from partner countries in the creation of a subcommittee on CTIPE within the existing National Trade Facilitation Committee, and (5) the integration of CTIPE into regional value chains.

The current Trademark Africa Trade Facilitation Program in Mozambique is funded by Irish Aid and the Netherlands.

On July 6th, the “World Tariff Profiles 2023” was published, which is a joint publication of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Trade Center (ITC) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) dedicated to the study of access to goods markets. In this comprehensive statistical report, key tariff parameters for each of the 164 WTO members, as well as other countries and territories where data is available, are compiled. Each tariff profile presents information on the tariffs imposed by each economy on its imports, as well as an analysis of market access conditions in the main export markets.
The report reveals that the proportion of tax-exempt products has gradually increased in all regions of the world. Africa has the lowest proportion of tax-exempt products, followed by the Americas and Asia. In Africa, only about one in five products is tax-free. Least developed countries have the highest proportion of international tariff spikes, while developed economies have the lowest. A relatively high number of domestic tariff peaks indicates a wide dispersion in national tariff levels, but not necessarily a high national average.
Regarding Mozambique’s tariff profile, the country has a total of 5549 tariff lines applied under the Most Favored Nation (MFN) regime. On average, its rates are consolidated at a rate of 97%, varying according to the product category. For agricultural products, the consolidated rate is 100%, while for non-agricultural products it is 26%. The simple average of rates applied in Mozambique is 10.3%. For agricultural products, the rate applied is 14%, while for non-agricultural products it is 9.7%. In relation to weighted applied rates, which take import flows into account, the total average is 7.2%. For agricultural products, the weighted applied rate is 8.2%, while for non-agricultural products it is 6.9%. These weighted rates reflect the relative importance of different products in the country’s total imports.
Although this report is based on the SH2022 nomenclature, for the analysis referring to Mozambique the SH2017 nomenclature was used, as this was the version in force at the time of preparing the report.
For more information see: https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/booksp_e/world_tariff_profiles23_e.pdf

From 15 to 17 March 2022, the United Kingdom embassy in Mozambique (FCDO) and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of Mozambique (MIC) organized training and dissemination sessions on the economic partnership agreement between the SACU + Mozambique countries , on the other hand, and the United Kingdom, on the other hand.

The specific objectives were to support public and private entities to (1) improve understanding of the official processes involved in the import and export of goods to the UK, by the private sector, and (2) develop commercial data and information collection skills, including training on the key provisions of the agreement (including rules of origin, SPS requirements and safeguards) and measures to identify tariff preferences applied to UK market access.

All sessions were facilitated by the SETA team, composed of: Samuel Zita (Managing Partner), Ermínio Jocitala (Partner) and Mateus Chale (Associate Consultant).

Promove Comércio held, in the last week of September, Seminars to Launch the Export Guide,a support tool for businesspeople who aim to expand their export operations to the European Union from Mozambique.

The photos above are from the launch of Export Guide in Beira.

The photos above are from the launch of Export Guide in Nampula.