http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/42367041

Trade liberalization and tax reform in the southern Mediterranean Region

1. Association Agreements have been signed with the EU by Israel, Morocco, and Tunisia; initialed by Jordan; and are under discussion with Algeria, Egypt, and Lebanon. The agreements seek to establish, by the end of a 12-year transition period, a free trade area for most products. Detailed discussions of the broader Euro-Med Initiative under which the agreements have been negotiated have been presented by others (see, e.g., Havrylyshyn (1997); Nsouli and others (1996); and Nabli (1996)). This paper adopts a narrower focus: it examines the impact of tariff reductions on budgetary revenue in the SMR countries and assesses these countries' progress in implementing domestic tax reforms. These reforms are intended to help these countries compensate for the loss of tariff revenue and, more generally, to adjust to a more competitive environment of closer integration with the EU.

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