EPA negotiations coming to a close, says EAC head
IPPMedia, Tanzania
EPA negotiations coming to a close, says EAC head
By Lusekelo Philemon
26 November 2011
Experts from the East African Community secretariat will next month fly to Brussels Belgium for an audience with European Union officials to finalise the long-standing negotiations on Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs).
Dr Richard Sezibera the EAC secretary general told journalists here: “Negotiations on this matter are coming to a close. By December, this year our experts will be meeting with EU officials in Brussels to accomplish the task.”
He was speaking with journalists from the five partner states who are attending the EAC-GIZ Advanced Media Training on Reporting on Regional Integration in Bujumbura, Burundi.
“The negotiations on EPA with EU were in a very advanced stage,” said Ambassador Sezibera, reiterating the bloc’s commitment to conclude the negotiations and that any delays were because the EAC negotiators “wanted to get the right EPA for East Africa.
Main features of the interim EPA are duty-free, quota-free access to the EU for all imports from EAC, with transition periods for rice and sugar; asymmetric and gradual opening up of the EAC market to EU goods, taking full account of the differences in levels of development between them and the EU; trade defence provisions with safeguards allowing each party to reintroduce duties if imports of the other party disturb or threaten to disturb their economy, and rules of origin (subject to review in the full EPA negotiations).
Others are dispute avoidance and settlement provisions (more elaborate provisions would be negotiated during the full EPA) and a chapter on fisheries goods covered by liberalisation.
The EAC has been determined to conclude a full EPA in accordance with an agreed roadmap of negotiations. The bloc and the EU remain mindful that the pace of the negotiations was dependent on the ongoing EAC integration process, which would determine the commitments the EAC was ready to take in the EPA process.
Five negotiating rounds since the beginning of 2008 had allowed progress to be made in several areas
Ambassador Sezibera, who also addressed himself to various EAC-related subjects ranging from trade to the economy and regional security, emphasised the need for the partner states to speed up work towards the East African Monetary Union, which he said would put the region on a firmer economic footing.
“Currency fluctuations [in the region] are a reflection of underlying economic fundamentals. A monetary union with the accompanying economic and financial integration would make our region more competitive,” he said. “But that’s not enough,” he added, noting that the region needed to boost industrial growth, food production and energy generation, among others.
He also affirmed that the region was committed to tackling Non Tariff Barriers, which slow down intra-regional trade and declared that these had now been reduced by at least half from 59 a few years ago.
On peace and security, the EAC senior official reaffirmed EAC’s support for ongoing initiatives to pacify Somalia, and confirmed that the country’s security situation would feature on the agenda of the EAC Heads of State Summit meeting on 30 November in Bujumbura.
“EAC is committed to finding a long term solution to Somalia so that its people can find the peace and stability they deserve,” he stated.
