The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is urging businesses to use its online reporting mechanism to flag regulatory and other obstacles that prevent goods from moving across borders, with the Secretariat saying direct complaints from traders are essential to resolving non-tariff barriers.
The mechanism allows businesses encountering difficulties when exporting products to submit details of the problem to the AfCFTA Secretariat’s Non-Tariff Barrier Unit.
Poonam D. Mohun, Head of the Non-Tariff Measures Division at the AfCFTA Secretariat, said traders can report issues ranging from rejected product certificates to regulatory requirements that make it difficult to enter another African market.
“The only way that the Secretariat can officially address an issue” is for businesses to report their problems through the mechanism, she said during the AfCFTA Podcast.
Once a complaint is submitted, the Secretariat engages designated focal points in both the exporting and importing countries and begins discussions with the affected business to seek a resolution.
A Ghanaian exporter, for example, facing difficulties selling shea butter in another African country can submit details including the product’s customs classification, country of origin, destination and the nature of the obstacle.
The Secretariat would then engage relevant officials in both countries. The platform has been available since the establishment of the AfCFTA Secretariat, according to Mohun, but awareness among businesses remains a challenge.
The Secretariat recently held an online training session attended by about 900 participants on how to use the reporting mechanism. About 500 participants passed an accompanying assessment and received certificates, becoming what the Secretariat describes as champions of the platform.
The initiative comes as the AfCFTA attempts to move beyond tariff reductions and address practical obstacles that can prevent businesses from taking advantage of preferential access to African markets.
Mohun said one recurring problem is that some traders are unfamiliar with basic documentation required to trade under the AfCFTA, including certificates of origin.
Businesses sometimes report that they have paid duties or other charges when exporting goods under the agreement, only for the Secretariat to discover that they do not possess the certificate required to establish that their products qualify for AfCFTA preferences, she said.
Other complaints involve national authorities refusing to accept conformity certificates issued in another African country, forcing exporters to repeat testing in the destination market.
The AfCFTA Secretariat is working with member states to address such challenges through regulatory harmonization, including a proposed Mutual Recognition Agreement covering standards and conformity assessments.
Mohun said the Secretariat’s broader objective is to make trade procedures easier, particularly for smaller businesses that often lack the resources to navigate multiple regulatory systems.
The AfCFTA’s success will depend not only on reducing tariffs but also on ensuring that African businesses can understand and meet the requirements needed to move products across the continent.
