Directory of Economic, Commodity and Development Organizations - table of contents

ARAB MAGHREB UNION (AMU) 


        
HEADQUARTERS

        

14 Rue Zalagh                                           Telephone:   [212](37)671-274/278/280
Rabat-Agdal                                             Facsimile:   [212](37)671-253
Morocco                                                 E-mail:      sg.uma@maghrebarabe.org
                                                        Internet:    www.maghrebarabe.org


          Secretary General:                 ...     Habib BOULARES




        
LANGUAGES: Arabic

        
ESTABLISHMENT AND FUNCTIONS

        
The Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) encompasses five North
        African countries that have strong historical, cultural,
        and language affinities. The first Conference of Maghreb
        Economic Ministers, which took place in Tunis in 1964,
        established the Conseil Permanent Cunsultatif du Maghreb
        (CPCM) between Algeria, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia, to
        coordinate and harmonize the development plans of the
        four countries as well as interaregional trade and
        relations with the EU. However, for a number of reasons,
        the plans never came to fruition. It was not until the
        late 1980s that new impetus began to bring the parties
        together again. The first Maghreb Summit of the five
        Heads of State, held at Zeralda (Algeria) in June 1988,
        resulted in a decision to set up the Maghreb High
        Commission and various specialized commissions. Finally,
        on February 17, 1989 in Marrakech, the Treaty
        establishing the AMU was signed by the Heads of State of
        the five countries. As of May 1997, there have been a
        total of 37 Maghrebi conventions. 

        
The main objectives of the AMU Treaty are to
        strengthen all forms of ties among Member States (in
        order to ensure regional stability and enhance policy
        coordination), as well as to introduce gradually free
        circulation of goods, services, and factors of production
        among them. Common defense and non-interference in the
        domestic affairs of the partners are also key aspects of
        the Treaty. The Treaty highlights the broad economic
        strategy to be followed, namely, the development of
        agriculture, industry, commerce, food security, and the
        setting up of joint projects and general economic
        cooperation programs. The agreement does not view
        bilateral arrangements between the parties as an obstacle
        to the development of multilateral relations. Finally,
        the agreement provides the possibility for other Arab and
        African countries to join the Union at a later stage. 

        
Since 1990, the five countries have signed more
        than 30 multilateral agreements covering diverse
        economic, social, and cultural areas. While member
        countries have ratified varying numbers of these
        agreements, only five have been ratified by all members
        of the union. These include agreements on trade and
        tariffs (covering all industrial products); trade in
        agricultural products, investment guarantees; avoidance
        of double taxation; and phyto-sanitary standards. 

        
Since 1989, the Governors and technical staff of
        the five central banks of the AMU have been meeting
        regularly. In December 1991, the five banks signed a
        multilateral agreement to help facilitate interbank
        payments within the union. The agreement sets unified
        modalities of payments between the five central banks,
        and provides for monthly settlement of balances between
        any two countries without charge of interest on interim
        balances. The unit of account is the SDR and the
        settlement currency is chosen by the creditor country. 

        
COMPOSITION

        
5 member countries: Algeria, Libya,
        Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia 

        
STRUCTURE

        
The supreme institutional organ that has the
        authority to make decisions and to which all AMU
        institutions answer is the Council of Heads of
        State; its decisions require unanimity. Since
        the signing of the Treaty, the Council has met, as
        scheduled (in 1993 this was changed from twice a year to
        annually), to take decisions concerning regional issues. 

        
A Council of Foreign Affairs Ministers
        also meets regularly to prepare for the sessions of the
        Council of Heads of State and to examine proposals
        formulated by subordinate committees and four specialized
        ministerial commissions (economy and finance, human
        resources, basic infrastructures and food security).
        Since 1989, several working groups have been created to
        address technical issues. The countries have agreed to
        set up a regional development bank to finance projects in
        the region. 

        
A follow-up Committee, consisting of
        representatives from each Member State, follows the
        implementation of resolutions adopted by the Council of
        Heads of State. 

        
A Consultative Assembly,
        consisting of 30 representatives from each Member State
        that can advise the Council of Heads of State, and a Court
        of Justice, composed of two judges from each
        Member State, have been set up in Algiers and Nouakchott
        respectively. 

        
In 1992, the AMU's Secretariat General,
        was established permanently in Rabat. It has an annual
        operational budget of US$1.7 million, attained through
        equal contributions from each member. 

        
A number of specialized committees have been
        working in such areas as food security, economic and
        financial affairs, basic infrastructure, and human
        resources. 

        
UPDATED by IMF:  December 2003

        
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