The African Union Assembly launched the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) negotiations during the 25th Extraordinary Summit of Head of States and Governments on 15 June in Johannesburg, South Africa. It adopted a statement on the Objectives and Guiding Principles for Negotiating the Continental Free Trade Area; in terms of which these negotiations will be conducted.

In order to make the ambitious CFTA project a reality and to get the process started, new legal and institutional arrangements have to be put in place. The Members of the AU will be the parties to these agreements and they will participate in the CFTA negotiations. The Department of Trade and Industry of the African Union Commission will assist the Members States during this process, which will apparently kick off in June 2016. This tralac Trade Brief discusses the most salient points in this document.

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