Panel on ECOWAS trade scheme set up
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Jun 30, 2004, 09:18

A committee to approve companies and products under the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (TLS) has been inaugurated by the Ministry of Cooperation and Integration in Africa.

The Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr Etim Amba, performed the inauguration in Abuja on 28 June.

Dr. Amba said that the TLS is a major effort to boost the economy of the sub-region by fostering utilisation of local resources and capacities.

Products with 60 per cent local material content and 30 per cent added value qualify for the scheme, he said.

He added that 774 companies and 2,433 products had so far been admitted into the ECOWAS TLS, out of which 304 companies and 884 products were from Nigeria.

He said with the coming into effect of ECOWAS Common External Tariff and a Customs Union, the sub-region would notice free movement of products.

He however, cautioned committee members not to see their role as that policing Nigerian products, but rather as promoters of the products in international markets.

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