Implementation Support for Signatories of the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA 2006)

The CEFTA Aid for Trade project l Supporting CEFTA Structures with Monitoring and Implementation project l Related meetings

Since January 2009, the OECD Investment Compact for South East Europe lends implementation support to signatories of the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA 2006).

Implementation support is currently structured into two separate projects:

• The CEFTA Aid for Trade project: Overcoming Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs)
• Supporting CEFTA Structures with the Monitoring and Implementation of Investment-related clauses

The project entitled Aid for Trade -- Implementing CEFTA: Overcoming Non-Tariff Barriers is funded by the Government of Hungary and run by the Investment Compact for South East Europe.

The overall objective of the project is to assist CEFTA signatories in deriving the full benefits of the implementation of CEFTA through the reduction/elimination of non-tariff barriers -- particularly, but not exclusively -- those that impact main trade flows.

Specific objectives include:

• Identify, classify and prioritise those non-tariff barriers that affect the main trade flows among CEFTA signatories with particular emphasis on those identified by the business community
• Identify the main non-tariff barriers affecting trade and investment with neighbouring EU Member States and Turkey
• Provide the CEFTA Sub-Committee on non-tariff barriers and the CEFTA Joint Committee with a draft action programme to reduce/eliminate prioritised non-tariff barriers

The project entitled Supporting CEFTA Structures with the Monitoring and Implementation of Investment-related Clauses of the CEFTA 2006, funded by the European commission, monitors the implementation of investment-related clauses of the 2006 CEFTA, which are:

• government procurement
• national treatment
• intellectual property rights

In addition, it includes an assessment of the impact that CEFTA 2006 will have on factor movements and industry concentration in the signatory economies, building on the experience of the CEFTA 2006 in the Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltic Free Trade Agreement.

Eliminating non-tariff barriers at core of CEFTA 2006 Aid for Trade roundtable, Budapest, 8 October 2009