The UAE-Israel Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, which was signed on May 31, 2022, will come into effect on April 1, 2023.
This means that tariffs will be removed or reduced on more than 96% of product lines, which covers 99% 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 rollout 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 service suppliers, and opens opportunities in government procurement.
It also provides a platform for SMEs to expand internationally, establishes parameters for digital trade, protects intellectual property, and creates transparent trade remedy mechanisms.
The CEPA is designed to push UAE-Israel non-oil bilateral trade from the US$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% increase on 2021’s total, with re-exports from Israel growing 71.2% and non-oil exports to Israel climbing 48.6%.
The UAE-Israel CEPA is a part of the UAE’s new trade agenda and efforts to double the size of the economy from AED1.4 trillion to AED3 trillion by 2030. The UAE has now concluded CEPAs with India, Israel, Indonesia, Türkiye and Georgia.
