View source for Council of Arab Economic Unity

{{Short description|International Arab Organization}}
{{Infobox Geopolitical organization
|conventional_long_name = Council of Arab Economic Unity
|linking_name = the Greater Arab Free Trade Area
|image_map = GAFTA Members.png
|map_width = 265px <!--265px avoids template resizing when collapsible lists shown (at standard zoom)-->
|map_caption = <div style="margin-left:2.0em;text-align:left;">{{legend|#008000|[[Arab League]] and [[#Greater Arab Free Trade Area|GAFTA]] member}}{{legend|#a8e61d|Arab League and candidate GAFTA member}}</div>
|org_type = [[Trade bloc]]
|membership = <div style="padding-bottom:0.4em;">
 {{Collapsible list
  |titlestyle = background:transparent;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;
  |title = 18 members
  |{{ALG}} |{{BHR}} |{{EGY}} |{{IRQ}} |{{JOR}} |{{KUW}} |{{LBN}} |{{LBY}} |{{MAR}}
  |{{OMA}} |{{PSE}} |{{QAT}} |{{SAU}} |{{SUD}} |{{SYR}} |{{TUN}}
  |{{ARE}} |{{YEM}}
 }}</div>
 {{Collapsible list
  |titlestyle = background:transparent;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;
  |title = 4 candidates
  |{{COM}} |{{DJI}} |{{MRT}} |{{SOM}}
 }}
|admin_center = {{nowrap|{{flagicon|EGY}} [[Cairo]], [[Egypt]]}}
|languages_type = [[Official language]]
|languages = [[Arabic language|Arabic]]
|leader_title1 = Secretary General
|leader_name1 = Mohammadi Ahmed Al-Ni
|established = 3 June 1957
|established_event1 = GAFTA signed
|established_date1  = 1 January 1998
|established_event2 = GAFTA in force
|established_date2  = 1 January 2005
|GDP_nominal=$2.819 trillion|GDP_nominal_year=2019|GDP_nominal_rank=7th|GDP_PPP=$7.649 trillion|GDP_PPP_year=2019|GDP_PPP_rank=4th}}

The '''Council of Arab Economic Unity''' ('''CAEU''') (Arabic: مجلس الوحدة الاقتصادية العربية) was founded by [[Egypt]], [[Iraq]], [[Jordan]], [[Kuwait]], [[Libya]], [[Mauritania]], [[State of Palestine|Palestine]], [[Saudi Arabia]], [[Sudan]], [[Tunisia]], [[Syria]], [[United Arab Emirates]] and [[Yemen]] on May 30, 1964, following an agreement in 1957 by the [[Economic and Social Council (Arab League)|Economic Council of the Arab League]].<ref>Jovanovic, M. N., ed. [https://books.google.com/books?id=fSAChpUdg2AC&pg=PA508 ''International Handbook on the Economics of Integration'']. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2011, p. 508</ref>

== Objectives ==
According to The Economic Unity Agreement approved on June 3, 1957, the Council of Arab Economic Unity desires to "Organize and consolidate economic relations among the States
of the Arab League on bases that are consistent with the natural and historical links among them; and to provide the best conditions for flourishing their economies, developing their resources and ensuring the prosperity of their countries."<ref name="cris.unu.edu">{{cite web|title=The Economic Unity Agreement Among States the Arab League|url=http://www.cris.unu.edu/riks/web/treaties/constituent_treaties/19._The_Economic_Unity_Agreement_Among_States_the_Arab_League_establishing_the__Council_of_Arab_EconomicXX3June1957.pdf|access-date=3 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923211154/http://www.cris.unu.edu/riks/web/treaties/constituent_treaties/19._The_Economic_Unity_Agreement_Among_States_the_Arab_League_establishing_the__Council_of_Arab_EconomicXX3June1957.pdf|archive-date=23 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>
The bases of economic relations between states in the Council of Arab Economic Unity are outlined in Chapter 1, Articles 1 and 2 of The Economic Unity Agreement:

'''Article 1'''

Article 1 delineates each member state's rights to:
# Personal and capital mobility
# Free exchange of goods and products
# Exercise of residence and economic endeavors (work, employment, etc.)
# Transit and use of ports and airports
# Possession and inheritance

'''Article 2'''

Article 2 behoves the signatories of The Economic Unity Agreement to work towards  the objectives specified in Article 1 by:
# Merging into a unified customs area
# Unifying their import and export policies
# Unifying their regulations with regard to transit
# Jointly negotiating agreements with other states
# Unifying and coordinating legislation to achieve equal conditions of agriculture, industry and trade among member states
# Coordinating legislation with regard to labor and social security
# (a) Coordinating "government and municipal taxes and duties and all taxes pertaining to agriculture, industry, trade, real estate, and capital investments" to achieve equivalent business climates among member states; (b) Avoiding double-taxing nationals of member states
# Coordinating monetary and fiscal policies
# Unifying "statistical methods of classification and tabulations"
# Adopting any other measures consistent with the stated objectives of Articles 1 and 2<ref name="cris.unu.edu"/>

== Agadir Agreement ==

"The Agadir Agreement" for the establishment of a [[free trade area|free trade zone]] between the Arab Mediterranean Nations was signed in [[Rabat]], [[Morocco]] on 25 February 2004.<ref name="Agadir Text">{{cite web|url=http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=2513 |title=Full text of the Agreement (English version)|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109103952/http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=2513 |archive-date=2009-01-09 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kourtelis|first=Christos|date=2021|title=The Agadir Agreement: The Capability Traps of Isomorphic Mimicry|journal=World Trade Review|language=en|volume=20|issue=3 |pages=306–320|doi=10.1017/S1474745620000488|issn=1474-7456|doi-access=free}}</ref> The agreement aimed at establishing free trade between [[Jordan]], [[Tunisia]], [[Egypt]] and [[Morocco]] which was seen as a first potential step in the formation of the [[Euro-Mediterranean free trade area]] as envisaged in the [[Barcelona Process]].<ref name="Agadir and Open regionalism">{{cite web|url=http://www.euromesco.net/media/euromesco_paper_45.pdf |title=''The Agadir Agreement and Open regionalism'' |first=Steffen |last=Wippel |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081003043628/http://www.euromesco.net/media/euromesco_paper_45.pdf |archive-date=2008-10-03 }}</ref>

The Agreement aims to establish a Free Trade Area among the member states, in addition to increase intra-trade on one hand and with the European Union on the other. It also aims to enhance industrial integration among the Arab Mediterranean countries through the Implementation of the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean rules of origin and the utilization of the principle of cumulation of origin. This will enhance the member states’ export capacity towards the EU market and boost attraction for more foreign and European direct investment.

In 2016, the membership of [[State of Palestine|Palestine]] and [[Lebanon]] was approved at the third meeting of Agadir member ministers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lebanon, Palestine join Agadir free trade agreement - Economy - Business |url=https://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/3/12/198621/Business/Economy/Lebanon,-Palestine-join-Agadir-free-trade-agreemen.aspx |access-date=2022-04-06 |website=Ahram Online}}</ref> 

== Greater Arab Free Trade Area ==

The Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA) is a [[Pan-Arabism|pan-Arab]] free trade zone that came into existence on 19 February 1997.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Economic and Social Affairs Committee – Background Guide – Model Arab League Youth Leadership Development Program |url=https://ncusar.org/modelarableague/economic-and-social-affairs-committee-background-guide/ |access-date=2023-11-10 |website=ncusar.org |language=en-US}}</ref> It was founded by 14 countries: [[Bahrain]], [[Egypt]], [[Iraq]], [[Kuwait]], [[Lebanon]], [[Libya]], [[Morocco]], [[Oman]], [[Qatar]], [[Saudi Arabia]], [[Sudan]], [[Syria]], [[Tunisia]], and the [[United Arab Emirates]].<ref>[http://economics.ca/2007/papers/0300.pdf Abedini, Javad and Nicolas Péridy (2007:1): The Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA): An Estimation of the Trade Effects] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927005939/http://economics.ca/2007/papers/0300.pdf |date=2011-09-27 }} accessed on 13 August 2010</ref><ref>Afifi, Tamer Mohamed Ahmed  (2007:19): The Challenge of Implementing the Overlapping Regional Trade Agreements in [[Egypt]], Cuvillier Verlag, Goettingen.</ref> The formation of GAFTA followed the adoption of the "Agreement to Facilitate and Develop Trade Among Arab Countries" (1981) by the Arab League's [[Economic and Social Council (Arab League)|Economic and Social Council]] (ESC) and the approval by seventeen Arab League member-states at a summit in [[Amman]], [[Jordan]] of the "Greater [[Arab Free Trade Area]] Agreement" (1997). In 2009, [[Algeria]] joined GAFTA as the eighteenth member-state. GAFTA is supervised and run by the ESC.<ref name="GAFTA Text">{{cite web |url=http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=2309 |title=Full text of the Greater Arab Free Trade Area Agreement (1997) |publisher=bilaterals.org |date=2005-07-17 |access-date=May 4, 2018}}</ref>
 
The members participate in 96% of the total internal [[Arab]] trade, and 95% with the rest of the world by applying the following conditions:

#Instruct the inter-customs fees:
#:To reduce the customs on Arab products by 10% annually, the 14 [[Arab states]] reported their custom tariff programs to the Security Council of the Arab League to coordinate them. [[Syria]] was excepted and uses the [[World Customs Organization|Brussels tariffs system]].
#Applying the locality of the Arab products:
#:All members have shared their standards and specifications to help their products move smoothly from one country to another.
#:The League has also created a project to apply the Arab [[Agricultural|Agriculture]] Pact:
#:Which is to share the standards of the agricultural sector and inject several restrictions and specifications.
#:The Arab League granted exceptions, which allowed for a customs rate for certain goods to six members for several goods, however requests for additional exceptions were rejected by [[Morocco]], [[Lebanon]] and [[Jordan]].
#Private sectors:
#:The League created a database and a service to inform and promote the private sector's benefits.
#Communication:
#:The Economic and Social Council in its sixty-fifth meeting agreed on pointing a base for communication to ease communication between member states, and to work on easing interaction between the private and public sectors to further apply the Greater Arab Free Trade Area.
#Customs Duties:
#:In the sixty-seventh meeting the [[Economic and Social Council (Arab League)|Economic and Social Council]] agreed that a 40% decrease on customs on goods in the past 4 years of the GAFTA would continue and following the decisions at the [[Amman summit]], the members will make efforts to eliminate all customs duties on local goods.

== See also ==
* [[African Economic Community]]
* [[Arab League]]
* [[Intergovernmental Authority on Development]]
* [[Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development]]
* [[Arab Federation for Digital Economy]]
* [[Middle East Free Trade Area (disambiguation)]]
* [[Arab Monetary Fund]]
* [[Arab Maghreb Union]]
* [[Euro-Mediterranean free trade area]]
* [[Euro-Mediterranean Partnership]]
* [[European Neighbourhood Policy]]
* [[Third country economic relationships with the European Union]]
*[[Rules of Origin]]
*[[Market access]]
*[[Free-trade area]]
*[[Tariffs]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*http://www.amf.org.ae/
*https://web.archive.org/web/20080506173842/http://www.arableagueonline.org/las/arabic/details_ar.jsp?art_id=124&level_id=110

{{African Trade Agreements}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Council Of Arab Economic Unity}}
[[Category:Pan-Arab organizations]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1964]]
[[Category:Arab League]]
[[Category:Economy of the Arab League]]
[[Category:International economic organizations]]
[[Category:International organizations based in the Middle East]]
[[Category:Trade blocs]]
[[Category:Treaties concluded in 1957]]
[[Category:Treaties entered into force in 1964]]
[[Category:1964 in economic history]]