The Central African Republic is a beneficiary of the EU's "Everything but Arms" (EBA) scheme for least developed countries. The World Bank considers the country a low-income economy with a per-capita income of $ 480 in 2022. While overall EU imports from the Central African Republic amounted to about €47,6 million in 2022, no products imported to the EU currently make use of EBA preferences.
The “Everything but Arms”(EBA) scheme is a permanent arrangement covering Least Developed Countries (LDC’s) as classified by the United Nations. This arrangement enables duty-free and quota-free access for all products (7200 products in total) originating in LDC’s except for arms and ammunition. Different from the Standard GSP and GSP+, LDC’s are not excluded from the scheme if they benefit from other preferential arrangements.
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The Central African Republic is a landlocked economy in Central Africa, which possesses substantial mineral deposits and other resources including crude oil, gold, uranium reserves, diamonds, cobalt, lumber, and vast amounts of arable land.
The most important export products of the Central African Republic are tropical woods, gold and non-industrial diamonds, cocoa paste, and raw cotton.
The most important trading partners are the EU and China, which together account for a share of about 57% of total trade. The most important export markets are the EU, Cameroon and UAE. Imports mainly originate from the EU, China, and Cameroon The most important regional trading partners are neighbouring Cameroon and Benin.
The agricultural sector contributes the largest share to the GDP and centres around the cultivation of coffee, cotton, cassava, corn, millet, rice, squash, and peanuts. The Central African Republic can benefit from large mineral resources. The manufacturing sector remains small.
To date only about 3% of overall imports from the Central African Republic are eligible for EBA preferences. Despite a high preference utilisation rate of 95% in 2017, the country did not make use of the preferences in 2018, 2019, and 2020.
Total trade with the EU amounted to € 115 million in 2021. The EU is the most important trading partner for the Central African Republic and accrues for a share of 39.1% of total trade. More than one third of the total exports go to the European market, making it the primary export destination.
Only a small share of the Central African Republic's exports to the EU market are eligible for EBA preferences.
The Central African Republic currently does not make use of preferences granted under the EU's EBA.
The preferential access to the EU market granted by the EBA scheme is not bound to the ratification of international conventions. Nevertheless, the Central African Republic has a high level of ratification of international conventions. The country has ratified 14 out of 15 fundamental conventions on human rights and labour standards. Additionally, it has ratified 8 conventions on environmental protection and 4 conventions on good governance.
Access all info about EU-Central African Republic relations on the International Partnerships website: https://international-partnerships.ec.europa.eu/countries/central-african-republic_en
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