Mauritius-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement

The Mauritius-United Arab Emirates (UAE) Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) has entered into force on 1st April 2025. The CEPA marks a significant step towards the consolidation of bilateral economic and trade ties between the UAE and Mauritius.

The CEPA consists of the following Chapters: Initial Provisions and General Definitions, Trade in Goods, Rules of Origin, Customs Procedures and Trade Facilitation, Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures,  Technical Barriers to Trade, Trade Remedies, Trade in Services, Digital Trade, Intellectual Property Rights, Transparency in Government Procurement, Investment Facilitation, Economic Cooperation, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Dispute Settlement, Exceptions, Administration of the Agreement and Final Provisions. The CEPA also includes relevant annexes on Financial services and Telecommunications.

The Agreement is available on the following link:

https://1drv.ms/u/c/7c3cffaff933511f/EZdRDY746H9JpZQLEsGDF2QBgkIbS75rIHJKuQ-5TT4o9Q?e=i0Y6Zc

Trade in goods
On trade in goods, Mauritian exporters will benefit from preferential market access as follows (as per the Schedule of Tariff Commitments of the UAE):

1.    Immediate liberalization on some 6700 products
2.    Duty free access in 3 years on 411 products
3.    Duty free access in 5 years on 265 products

On the other hand, UAE exporters will have access to the Mauritian market as follows (as per Schedule of Tariff Commitments of Mauritius):
 
1.    Immediate duty-free access on some 97 products

2.    Immediate reduction of custom duties to 15% or 7.5% on 88 products such as black tea, wooden furniture, bedspreads, rattan and bamboo products.  

3.    Immediate reduction of custom duties and quotas for some 66 products from the UAE such as ground pepper, ground capsicum, ground vanilla, ground cinnamon, galvanized tubes, and grill, netting and fencing.

Trade in Goods benefits
Preferential duty treatment (including duty free) will be conditional to the rules of origin requirements under the CEPA being met. The certificate of origin shall be issued by the competent authorities of the Parties. In the case of Mauritius, the competent authority is the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) Customs Department.

Trade in Services
The CEPA opens up trade and investment opportunities for service suppliers in more than 100 services subsectors, including financial services, telecommunication, distribution and professional services.  The commitments of Mauritius in the services sector are in line with our existing regulatory framework.

Economic Cooperation    
Under the Economic Cooperation Chapter, another pillar of the CEPA, both countries have agreed to strengthen their cooperation through a work program to be developed annually in 10 different sectors, including manufacturing, pharmaceutical and health care, ICT and digital trade, light engineering and renewable energy as a priority.  The objective is to foster deeper trade relations, promote bilateral investment, enhance economic and technical cooperation across various sectors and build vertical linkages and value chains between the two countries with a view to exploring business opportunities on the African Continent.



Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade

April 2025

Sources : Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade