TPS-OIC and PRETAS

The First Session of the COMCEC in 1984 had decided to establish a group to work out the details of the envisaged trade preferential system for enhancing economic and commercial cooperation among the OIC Member Countries. Later, the basic principles and guidelines to be followed in the course of the establishing and operating of such a system were set out in the Declaration of Intent on the Establishment of a Trade Preferential System among the OIC Member States, which was adopted at the Fourth Session of the COMCEC in 1988. Accordingly, The Framework Agreement on Trade Preferential System among the OIC Member States (TPS-OIC) was drafted and submitted to the COMCEC for adoption. After its adoption by the COMCEC in its Sixth Session in 1990, the Framework Agreement has been presented for the signature and ratification by the Member States. The required number of 10 ratifying states for the entry into force of the Framework Agreement was reached in 2002.

Following the entry into force of the Framework Agreement, the COMCEC established the Trade Negotiating Committee (TNC) in 2003. Accordingly, the first round of trade negotiations for establishing the TPS-OIC was launched in April 2004. The TNC successfully conducted and completed the first round in April 2005 in Antalya and submitted The Protocol on Preferential Tariff Scheme for TPS-OIC (PRETAS) to the Twenty-First Session of the COMCEC held in November 2005. The COMCEC adopted the PRETAS and presented it for the signature and ratification by the members of the TNC. The second round of trade negotiations for establishing the TPS-OIC, organized by the TNC, was conducted in Ankara between November 2006 and September 2007. The Rules of Origin, the outcome of the second round, was adopted at the Twenty-Third Session of COMCEC in November 2007 and presented for the signature and ratification by the members of the TNC.

The PRETAS complements the Framework Agreement by laying out the concrete reduction rates in tariffs in accordance with a time-table for implementation. It also covers the removal of para-tariff and non-tariff barriers, and the application of safeguard measures. The PRETAS has been ratified by 11 Member States, namely, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Jordan, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Following the tenth ratification, the PRETAS entered into force in February 2010.

Planned / Implemented Meetings

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OIC Institutions Meeting on the ‘Road Map for the Promotion of the Intra-OIC Trade’
Date : 21-22 June 2010 Venue : Baku Azerbaijan

At the eve of 35th Annual Meeting of the Islamic Development Bank Group (IDB Group), International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), a member of IDB Group, organized a two-day Meeting to develop and enrich the Road Map for Enhancing Intra-OIC Trade. The Meeting held in Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan on the 21st- 22nd June, 2010.