ATPC Work in Progress
Assessing the Consequences of the Economic Partnership Agreement on the Economy of Sudan

ATPC Briefing
The Economic and Welfare Impacts of the EU-Africa Economic Partnership Agreements

Upcoming Events

Progress Review of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) Negotiations in Africa

14 February 2007

A report on the status of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) negotiations in Africa has concluded that little progress had been made by African countries despite their many efforts. The report was based on a study jointly conducted by the African Trade Policy Centre of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Union (AU) and the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Secretariat.

The review report was discussed at a meeting, in Nairobi on 12-13 February 2007 co-convened for senior officials and EPAs negotiation experts from across Africa, by Kenya's Ministry of Trade and Industry, the AU Commission, ACP Secretariat and ECA. Delegates from 31 African countries, as well as African Ambassadors and experts based in Geneva and Brussels, representatives of international organisations, the private sector and civil society organisations participated in the deliberations.

Participants said negotiations could only be successfully concluded if several outstanding issues were addressed . These include the lack of agreement on rules of origin; the vulnerability of the African economies to reciprocity (giving preferences to the European Union); lack of agreement on the trade-related development framework that would address adjustment costs of EPAs; and the negotiations focus on market access ignoring Africa's regional integration processes.

They called on the European Union and African sub-regions to show political will and commit to resolving all outstanding issues. They also called on the EU to act quickly in providing information that would facilitate the negotiations.

David Nalo, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Trade and Industry delivered the keynote speech on behalf of the Minister of Trade, Hon. Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi, at the opening while Mr. Hakim Ben Hammouda, ECA's Director of Trade, Finance and Economic Development Division gave the welcome address on behalf of Abdoulie Janneh, the Executive Secretary of ECA.

The ACP Secretariat was represented by its Assistant Secretary General, Ambassador Ferdinand Nyabenda, while the AU Commissioner for Trade and Industry was represented by Mr. Francis Mangeni.

The AU Ministers of Trade had earlier endorsed the draft progress report for further discussions during their 3rd Extra-Ordinary Session on 16 th January 2007 in Addis Ababa.

The terms of reference of the EPAs negotiations review process have been jointly agreed at the all ACP-EU level. The objective of the review process is to identify the outstanding issues in the negotiations in each of the sub-regions, the obstacles being experienced, and whether more time is needed to complete the negotiations, whose formal deadline is 31 December 2007. The review also intends to identify measures necessary to complete the negotiations.

:: List of participants