In recent years, there have been majorchanges in the trade policy landscape in West Africa thatwill affect Senegal. The Common External Tariff (CET) for(ECOWAS) and European Union-Economic Partnership Agreement(EU-EPA) have generated an intense debate among policymakers, interest groups and the general population. The CETaims at the establishment of a customs union for ECOWAScountries through ‘the adoption of a common external tariffand a common trade policy vis-à-vis third countries.’ It wasadopted at a Heads of State Summit in October 2013 in Dakarand is to be implemented from 2015. When initially designedin the mid-2000s, the CET was organized in four tariffbands: 0 percent for essential social goods, 5 percent forgoods of primary necessity, raw materials and specificinputs, 10 percent for intermediate goods and 20 percent forfinal consumption goods. Since then, Nigeria has obtainedthe introduction of a fifth band at 35 percent for ‘specificgoods for economic development’ (essentially agriculturalgoods and some consumer goods). The first section of thepaper presents an analysis of the impact of the CET andEU-EPA on protection levels, trade flows and state revenues,changes in the price of the consumption bundles forhouseholds and impact on firm’s profits. The second sectionunderlines some key elements of an accompanying policyagenda and a third section concludes.
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