The UAE-Israel Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which was signed on 31st May 2022, will come into effect on 1st April 2023.
Under the CEPA, the tariffs will be removed or reduced on more than 96 percent of product lines, which covers 99 percent of the current value of traded goods between the UAE and Israel.
The UAE-Israel CEPA is now the second of the UAE’s new foreign-trade deals to be ratified following the successful roll out of the UAE-India CEPA in May 2022.
In addition to the new tariff structures, the agreement with Israel removes unnecessary barriers to trade, improves market access for services suppliers, opens opportunities in government procurement, provides a platform for SMEs to expand internationally, establishes parameters for digital trade, protects intellectual property, and creates transparent trade remedy mechanisms.
According to the statement, the CEPA is designed to push UAE-Israel non-oil bilateral trade from the $1.3 billion recorded in 2021 to $10 billion by the end of the decade. In 2022, bilateral non-oil trade reached $2.49 billion, a 90 percent increase on 2021’s total, with re-exports from Israel growing 71.2 percent and non-oil exports to Israel climbing 48.6 percent.
Full details of the new tariff structures, rules of origin eligibility, as well as information on market access conditions for services suppliers, is now available on the Ministry of Economy’s website.
Businesses, exporters or agencies can also connect with the ministry for specific queries on the terms of the deal, as per the statement.
The UAE-Israel CEPA is a part of the UAE’s new trade agenda and efforts to double the size of the economy from $381 billion (AED1.4 trillion) to $816 billion (AED3 trillion) by 2030. The UAE has now concluded CEPAs with India, Israel, Indonesia, Türkiye, and Georgia.
