Webinar on the launch of the UNCTAD publication 'Implications of the AfCFTA for BioTrade, challenges and opportunities'
10 November 2021
Dear participants,
It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the launch of our publication “Implications of the African Continental Free Trade Area for BioTrade, challenges and opportunities”.
The AfCFTA and BioTrade are both great opportunities for Africa.
The AfCFTA is a landmark agreement for the Continent. It entered into force on 1 January 2021 and brings together 1.2 billion people with a combined gross domestic product of 2 to 3 trillion USD. It is the largest free trade area in the world in terms of participating countries.
And Africa is rich in biodiversity owing to its vast resources on minerals, agricultural land, forests, among other factors. Biodiversity-based products contribute to an important share of Africa’s GDP and trade, highlighting further the need to sustainably harnessing this wealth in which Africa has a comparative advantage.
But biodiversity in Africa is under “threat”. Unprecedented rates of population growth, urbanisation and agricultural development create immense challenges in curbing biodiversity loss and integrating human well-being with environmental and economic prosperity. Hence, policies to support sustainable and legal trade of biodiversity-based goods and services are much needed.
If we look at the AfCFTA, we note that sustainable socio-economic development is one of the general objectives of the Agreement. But the text has not much developed the link between trade, environment and sustainability under its provisions or commitments negotiated so far. This is where our publication can make an important contribution.
Our publication identifies several opportunities in the agreement establishing the AfCFTA and relevant implementing Protocols that have potential to greening the AfCFTA and boosting BioTrade. For instance:
- The Protocol on Trade in Goods could support regional biodiversity-based value chains through targeted tariff reductions and reductions in non-tariff barriers, such as developing sustainability standards appropriate to the African context and simplifying sanitary and phytosanitary requirements.
- The Protocol on Trade in Services could facilitate the provision, regulation and delivery of services that enable the development of sustainable and biodiversity-friendly services (e.g., ecotourism and REDD+ projects). The cross-border services provision as envisaged in this protocol could be an effective platform for this.
- As regards the Protocol on Intellectual Property, African countries and actors involved in the trade of sustainably sourced products could benefit from open, transparent and inclusive negotiations on the creation of international and national adaptable minimum requirements to protect: i) traditional knowledge, genetic resources, cultural expressions and intangible cultural heritage; ii) geographical indications; and iii) plant varieties.
- The Protocol on Investment could promote investment into the development of new and value-added biodiversity-based goods and services under the BioTrade Principles and Criteria, as well as target activities such as nature-based tourism and forestry-based carbon credit activities.
- Finally, the Protocol on Competition policy could promote competition, prohibit anti-competitive investment conduct, and adopt clear and transparent competition rules benefiting micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in biodiversity-based sectors.
We consider that UNCTAD’s BioTrade sustainability guidelines - the BioTrade Principles and Criteria - provide a framework for conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity within the AfCFTA.
Products based on BioTrade principles and criteria promote key objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity, while respecting the rights of the people that depend on biodiversity. The guidelines have enabled countries to increase local value addition.
These guidelines have proven successful. We estimate that the Initiative has created more than 5 million jobs, and BioTrade sales topped $6 billion in 2019. With growing consumer preference for biodiversity-friendly products and services, this market is expected to further grow. They are now being implemented in over 80 countries, including 25 out of the 54 countries in Africa.
Focusing on legal and sustainable biodiversity-based solutions, like BioTrade, offers an immense opportunity for Africa. To seize this opportunity, countries need to develop capacity, such as the application of guidelines and voluntary sustainability standards.
UNCTAD stands ready to assist countries.
The outcome document from UNCTAD 15 and our compass for the next years – the Bridgetown Covenant – explicitly refers to both the AfCFTA and BioTrade.
On one hand, the Bridgetown Covenant requests UNCTAD to support African countries in the implementation of the AfCFTA and the achievement of Agenda 2063, most notably, through the review of progress and challenges in its implementation.
On the other hand, it calls for wider international cooperation and instruments to promote and mainstream biodiversity in policies, strategies, and practices of global value chains to ensure conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystems.
This publication is a contribution to this mandate. And we can build on it to support negotiations in remaining protocols of the AfCFTA, such as Intellectual Property or Investment and Competition to devise policies that boost innovation and fair and equitable sharing of benefits for all. We can also help devise a new Protocol on Trade and Environment within the AfCFTA, or support a green implementation of the Agreement, such as through our work on voluntary sustainability standards.
Ladies and gentlemen,
If we want to achieve a sustainable future, we need to decouple growth and development from environmental degradation. There is momentum as we have seen during the COP, and the shift towards ‘green consumer behaviour’. Yet to decouple, we need to scale up our efforts and resources, and invest into green industries and policies that promote and enable a sustainable use of biodiversity and preserve the natural capital.
I thank you for your attention.
