Media Inquiries 404-840-0415|dynomuse@aol.com

Trade Agreements Sector Egypt

Home/Trade Agreements Sector Egypt

Trade Agreements Sector Egypt

The provisions relating to the protection of intellectual property rights (Article 23 and Appendix V) concern, among other things, patents, trademarks, copyrights and geographical indications. They are based on the WTO agreement on trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS) and provide a high level of protection, taking into account the principles of the most favoured nation and national treatment. Egypt is a signatory to several multilateral trade agreements: the agreement covers trade in industrial products, including fish and other seafood, and processed agricultural products. In addition, some EFTA states and Egypt have bilateral agreements on basic agricultural products, which are part of the free trade area`s creation instruments. For EFTA-Egypt trade statistics, see EFTA`s trade statistics tool, Egypt has also signed several bilateral agreements with Arab countries: Jordan (December 1999), Lebanon (March 1999), Libya (January 1991), Morocco (April 1999), Syria (December 1991) and Tunisia (March 1999). In addition, Egypt and China entered into a trade agreement in 1995. Egypt has also signed an economic treaty with Russia. In June 2001, Egypt signed an Association Agreement with the European Union (EU), which came into force on 1 June 2004. The agreement provided for immediate duty-free access of Egyptian products to EU markets, while duty-free access for EU products was phased in over a 12-year period. In 2010, Egypt and the EU concluded an agricultural annex to their free trade agreement and liberalized trade in more than 90% of agricultural goods. The agreement also contains provisions for the elimination of other trade and trade-related barriers, including competition rules, state monopolies and subsidies.

In addition, the agreement contains provisions relating to intellectual property protection, investment, services, current payments and capital flows, public procurement, economic cooperation and institutional and procedural issues. The agreement establishes a joint committee to oversee the implementation of the agreement and provide for a binding arbitration procedure. Trade in processed agricultural products is a protocol to the main agreement (Article 4, point b), and Protocol A). In addition, trade in agricultural commodities is covered by three bilateral agreements negotiated separately between Iceland (the agricultural agreement between Iceland and Egypt), Norway (an agricultural agreement between Norway and Egypt) and Switzerland/Liechtenstein (an agricultural agreement between Switzerland and Egypt), on the one hand, and Egypt on the other. These agreements, which are part of the instruments for creating the free trade area (Article 4, point d), provide for tariff concessions.

About the Author: