Brussels, 11/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - At the end of August Algeria and the EU reached an agreement to postpone the timetable for three years - from 2017 to 2020 - for tariff dismantling which will open up the Algerian market to European industrial and agricultural products. The dismantling process - for which there are long negotiations - forms part of the association agreement signed in 2005.
According to the media Algeria was concerned for some of its industries or worried about their development. It therefore felt obliged to ask for a three year postponement of the tariff dismantling timetable - which it has just obtained after three years of negotiations.
The decision has been taken and according to the Algerian side, the date of 1 September for its entry into force is being put forward. However, Community sources in Brussels say that it has still not been formally finalised. The exact details will only be known once published in the Official Journal of the EU.
Algiers says that the new timetable provides in particular for a postponement until 2020 for the lifting of tariff barriers on a wide range of industrial products imported by Algeria. It apparently stipulates a reorganisation of some EU preferential quotas for agricultural products and processed agricultural products. This should involve 36 agricultural quotas on imports into Algeria that enjoy customs exemptions, which will now be abolished or reorganised. This postponement is said to be helpful for the Algerians who value having more time for their businesses to get ready to face tough competition from Europe.
If all goes according to plan, Algeria should gain $8.5 billion for its Treasury. This is a figure calculated from official estimates, based on a simulation with constant imports from the EU for the period from 2010 - the date of Algeria's freeze on the dismantling process - to 2017. (FB/transl.fl)