Mr. Dzmitry Kniahin is a market analyst and a lead and coordinator of Rules of Origin Facilitator initiative between ITC, World Customs Organization (WCO) and World Trade Organization (WTO) since 2018. He works on global market access issues as part of Market Access Map project focusing on customs tariffs, free trade agreements, domestic taxes and other non-tariff measures. Dzmitry is a PhD candidate at University of Geneva, Switzerland. He holds a master’s degree in economics from University of Lausanne, Switzerland, and a bachelor degree in economics from M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russian Federation. He is fluent in English, French, Russian and Belarusian.
For the African continental free trade area to become fully operational, it is essential for the 54 signatory countries to reach agreement on harmonisation of rules of origins – the ‘Made in Africa’ criteria to ensure that only bona fide African products will benefit from tariff concessions. This column reports on progress and the remaining challenges.