COMCEC Trade Outlook 2016
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5. THE ROLE OF THE COMCEC IN INCREASING INTRA-OIC TRADE
5.1. ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE COMCEC
The COMCEC was established in 1981 and began operations in 1984. Trade is one of the major
cooperation areas, identified with the objective of enhancing trade among the OIC Member
States. The COMCEC has initiated many programs and projects towards reaching this objective.
Trade Liberalization:
As many international organizations, COMCEC has initiated a RTA, called Trade Preferential
System among the OIC Member States (TPS-OIC). TPS-OIC is based on three agreements, namely
the Framework Agreement, the Protocol on Preferential Tariff Scheme (PRETAS) and the Rules
of Origin.
The Framework Agreement, which sets out the general rules and principles for the negotiations
toward the establishment of the TPS-OIC, entered into force in 2002 after reaching 10
ratifications.
Following the entering into force, the COMCEC
Coordination Office organized First Round of Trade
Negotiations to develop a more specific agreement laying
out the concrete reduction rates in tariffs in accordance
with a time-table for implementation. After four
meetings, the Member States agreed on the PRETAS.
After the finalization of the PRETAS, the Trade
Negotiating Committee, which is the responsible body for the TPS-OIC conducted another round
of negotiations for finalizing the Rules of Origin. The round of negotiations closed successfully
after the finalization of the deliberations on the Rules of Origin in 2007. The PRETAS entered
into force in February 2010, and the Rules of Origin entered into force in August 2011.
Therefore, the legal basis of the system was completed.
In order to make the TPS-OIC system operational, 10 Member States have to fulfill two
conditions at the same time, namely the ratification of the three TPS-OIC Agreements and the
submission of the list of concessions to the TNC Secretariat. As of December 2014, required
number of countries having met necessary requirements of the System has been reached. The
Member Countries having met the two conditions are; United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh,
Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Jordan, Iran and
Morocco. Afterwards, in the 31 st Session of the COMCEC, the Ministers agreed to undertake
necessary measures to finalize the procedures of TPS-OIC. In this regard, 31st COMCEC Session
invited the participating states to update the previously submitted concession lists byMarch 1st,
2016 for the full implementation of the TPS-OIC. So far, Turkey, Malaysia, Pakistan, Jordan,
Bangladesh and Iran submitted the updated concession lists to the TNC Secretariat.
On the other hand, for successful implementation of the System, there are some measures
required to be undertaken by the Member Countries such as; printing TPS-OIC Certificate of
Origin documents, conveying specimen impressions of stamps to the Trade Negotiating
Committee Secretariat and completing the necessary internal legislative and administrative
“TPS-OIC, which promises
more intra-OIC trade
is close to
implementation”