January saw a wide range of ACP-EU issues. Particularly,
last week we knew the conclusions of the Council meeting on Agriculture and
Fisheries. Ministers adopted a decision authoriszng the Commission to open
negotiations with the aim of concluding a fisheries partnership agreement and protocol with
the Republic of Mauritius.
The protocol will
define the fishing opportunities to be granted to EU vessels, the financial
compensation, the framework for the implementation of the sectoral support and
the clauses related to the duration and the revision of the protocol. Something similar has happened regarding Mozambique as
ministers adopted a decision on the signing of the provisional
application of a protocol setting out the fishing opportunities and financial
contribution.
Stunning seemed to be the declarations of the Tanzanian
Industry, Trade and Marketing Minister Cyril Chami, who shed light
on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). As EPA negotiations appear to be
unfavorable for the economic growth of the East African member states, the Tanzanian government asks the European Commission for a
review. Cyril Chami particularly stated that "development
cooperation should be an integral part of EPA to ensure that EAC partner states
ably adjust to the new challenges and maximally exploit benefits offered under
the agreement."
He said that even though both parties had affirmed their recognition of development needs for the EAC block, some of the items on the agenda have appeared to be depressing to EAC members.
The world trade is witnessing another banana issue: The President of
the newly-created African Pineapples and Bananas Association (APIBANA), Mr.
George Kporye, has urged government to sign the EPA with the EU.
Kporye has stressed that the agreement guarantees a
quota-free entry into the European market and he is thankful that the interim
EPA that Ghana
initialed on December 13, 2007,
allows pineapple and banana producers access into the European market
tariff-free.
“If Ghana
does not sign the EPA, pineapple and banana producers will be subjected to
tariffs, and we cannot afford that in the face of stiff competition”, Kporye said.
Finally, we can address the most recent proposals of the
European Commission (EC) regarding development: Following the statements of EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht and the
presentation of the communication "Trade, growth and development", the EC has
presented a series of proposals to make trade and development instruments work
conjointly to ensure real poverty reduction across the world. The proposals
notably aim at reinforcing the trade capacities of developing countries by
making trade part of their development strategy. The role of trade is
underlined one of the key drivers to support development, stimulate growth and
to lift people out of poverty. Furthermore, today the EU calls for all
developed economies to match its significant levels of market access to
developing countries.
According to the EC, to achieve this goal, developing countries' leadership must also face up to their responsibilities, undertaking domestic reforms to ensure that the poor do indeed benefit from trade-led growth.
