AFRICAN STATES AGREE TO REGIONAL TARIFF CUTS
Fifteen countries in Eastern and
Southern Africa have agreed to cut tariffs on regional trade by
10 pct every two years up to 1996.
    A statement by the Preferential Trade Area (PTA), which
seeks to create a common market stretching from Ethiopia in the
north to Lesotho in the south, said the governments would make
the first tariff cut next year.
    In 1996 they would assess the impact of the tariff
reductions and work out a new timetable for the complete
elimination of all barriers to trade by the year 2000.
    The PTA, set up in 1982, groups Burnudi, the Comoros,
Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda,
Somalia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
    PTA sources said the agreement averted a split between
members wanting more progress towards free trade and weaker
states concerned about the effects on customs revenue.
    The reductions cover only a common list of 300 or so widely
traded commodities and goods but PTA sources said the
organisation planned to expand the list to include 425 items.
 Reuter
