Since only a small number of African States are active users of trade remedies and safeguards, the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement’s trade remedies and safeguards regime, modelled on World Trade Organisation (WTO) principles and procedures, could bring about an important trade governance development. Should the AfCFTA State Parties become users of trade remedies and safeguards, disputes about how investigations are conducted, and the relevant measures are implemented, can be expected. This will involve domestic judicial review procedures as well as disputes between AfCFTA State Parties trading under AfCFTA preferences. The Dispute Settlement Mechanism of the AfCFTA Disputes has jurisdiction over disputes between the State Parties.

The AfCFTA’s provisions on trade remedies and safeguards appear in three instruments: the Protocol on Trade in Goods, Annex 9 to this Protocol (“Trade Remedies”) and the “Guidelines on Implementation of Trade Remedies”. These Guidelines must still be finalised.

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