Article 16 — CEDEAO Traite-1975

Deflection of Trade

1. For the purposes of this Article, trade is said to be deflected if, (a) imports of any particular product by a Member State from another Member State increase: i. as a result of the reduction or elimination of duties and charges on that product, and ii. because duties and charges levied by the exporting Member State on imports of raw materials used for manufacture of the product in question are lower than the corresponding duties and charges levied by the importing Member State; and (b) this increase in imports causes or would cause serious injury to production which is carried on in the territory of the importing Member State.
2. The Council of Ministers shall keep under review the question of deflection of trade and its causes. It shall take such decisions, as are necessary, in order to deal with the causes of this deflection.
3. In case of deflection of trade to the detriment of a Member State resulting from the abusive reduction or elimination of duties and charges levied by another Member State, the Council of Ministers shall study the question in order to arrive at a just solution.