The Ministry of Trade and Industry announced that Ethiopia has been allowed to export its wood, weavery and artifact products to the U.S market without tariff and quota.

Ministry Information and Public Relations Office Head, Hailu Abebe told ENA yesterday that Ethiopia was allowed to export some 1,800 additional handicraft products to the U.S market through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

He added that Ethiopia has been exporting 4,650 types of products to the U.S market.

The head said that the handicraft products should promote Ethiopian landscape and other features of Ethiopia, adding that investors who would like to make use of the opportunity should strive to meet the stated requirement.

Products carrying symbols, images and designs that have no Ethiopian characterisitics are not permitted to be exported, he said.

Moreover, the head added, the products should not make use of modern zippers, plastic materials and clippers.

According to Hailu, the Quality and Standards Authority of Ethiopia (QSAE) is responsible to monitor the standards of the export items.

Meanwhile, the head indicated that Ethiopia has obtained four million USD since it became beneficiary of the AGOA some five years back.

Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Republic of Congo, D. R. Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia are among the countries eligible for AGOA benefits.

AGOA was signed into law on May 18, 2000 as Title 1 of the Trade and Development Act of 2000. The Act offers tangible incentives for African countries to continue their efforts to open their economies and build free markets.

Latest AGOA Trade Data currently available on AGOA.info


Click here to view a sector profile of Ethiopia’s bilateral trade with the United States, disaggregated by total exports and imports, AGOA exports and GSP exports.

Other regularly updated trade statistics on AGOA.info include: (click each link to view)