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13/2004 AFRICAN FINANCE MINISTERS SET JULY TARGET FOR TRADE CONCESSIONS Kampala, 23 May 2004 (ECA) - African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development have ended their annual conference demanding that rich countries remove obstacles holding up international trade negotiations by July. Complaining that OECD countries had done too little to remove high tariffs and trade-distorting subsidies to their farmers, the ministers said in their closing statement: 'These issues are a litmus test of their commitment to Africa's development.' They called for full momentum to be restored to the WTO 'through the adoption of meaningful frameworks in agriculture, non-agricultural market access and other relevant areas.' Talks in the WTO's 'Doha Development Round' stalled last year in Cancun, Mexico, after disagreements about how far and how fast rich countries should give developing countries greater access to their markets. The WTO secretariat aims to have a 'general framework package' agreed for the negotiation by the end of July. Ministers also voiced concern that the world trading system has not been conducive to Africa's efforts towards producing manufacturing exports. They 'strongly recommended' that OECD countries lower barriers to African industrial goods and said they would only be prepared to reduce their own tariffs after 'significant improvements' in access to OECD markets. The Ministers praised the United States legislation known as AGOA (African Growth and Opportunity Act) for opening a window to African goods to be sold sale in the US. They agreed to write to the US Congress to express their concern over delays in passing legislation that would extend the provisions of AGOA from 2008 to 2015. The Conference Ministerial Statement also called for more attention to be paid to Africa's need for substantial debt relief, particularly for post-conflict countries and middle-income countries in special circumstances. Middle-income countries, such as Nigeria, are presently not eligible for the 'Heavily-Indebted Poor Countries' (HIPC) debt relief facility. PRESS ADVISORY The full Ministerial Statement and other conference documents, speeches and papers can be accessed at http://www.uneca.org The Conference of Ministers ended Saturday May 22, 2004, in Kampala, Uganda. Ministers remain in Kampala to attend the Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank. The ECA and the AfDB jointly host a Symposium on Monday May 24 on the theme: 'The Missing Link in Growth and Sustainable Development: Closing the Gender Gap.' Finance ministers praised the Economic Commission for Africa which organizes the annual meeting of Africa's Finance, Planning and Economic Development ministers for being 'a leading voice on Africa's development' and said they were 'impressed with progress achieved over the last eight years of reform by the ECA.' The conference urged member states to step up financial contributions to the ECA through the United Nations Trust Fund for Africa. The theme of next year's Conference of Ministers will focus on the Millennium Development Goals and the challenges of meeting them by 2015. Akwe Amosu: amosu@uneca.org Issued by: |