425 As noted in the CSAR, Ethiopia is a founding member of COMESA. Several institutions have been created to promote sub-regional co-operation and development under COMESA, of which Ethiopia is a member. These include: • The COMESA Trade and Development Bank in Nairobi, Kenya; • The COMESA Court of Justice in Khartoum, Sudan; • The COMESA Clearing House in Harare, Zimbabwe • The COMESA Association of Commercial Banks in Harare, Zimbabwe; • The COMESA Leather Institute in Ethiopia; • The COMESA Re-Insurance Company (ZEP-RE) in Nairobi, Kenya 426 In line with the COMESA trade protocols, Ethiopia has also, among others, done the following: • Removed some tariff barriers; • Eliminated some non-tariff barriers; • Adopted the single COMESA Customs Document (COMESA-CD); • Installed the Automatic System of Customs Data (ASYCUDA); and, • Applied the COMESA Third Party Motor Vehicle Insurance Scheme (The Yellow Card). 427 However, more still needs to be done for Ethiopia to comply with COMESA trade harmonisation requirements. As noted in the CSAR, Ethiopia has not kept pace with the agreed liberalisation of trade, i.e. a zero percent tariff in order to join the Free Trade Area (FTA), and the country is still not yet a member of the FTA arrangements. In interviews, GoE officials expressed worry over the likely impact of the COMESA FTA on the Ethiopian economy. In this respect, they informed the CRM that a study on the effects of the COMESA FTA was under way. 428 GoE officials also admitted that most of the parameters set for macroeconomic convergence that are key to harmonisation are yet to be met in Ethiopia. Similarly, other issues of harmonisation such as trade, investment, macroeconomic policies, and so on, are not explicitly addressed. The CRM cautions that the issue of harmonisation of policies (domestic versus those of COMESA or any other REC) is critical for Ethiopia. - 172 -