ECOWAS Workshop on Sensitive Products in the EPA negotiations

Ms. Luisa Rodriguez, Programme Officer, South Centre participated in the workshop to assess the process of identification, by the West African Region, of Sensitive Products in the EPA negotiations organized by the ECOWAS Commission in Bamako, Mali from 28 to 30 April 2008.

The South Centre was invited to participate in this event because of its research experience on EPAs and because of its contribution to the process of identification of Sensitive products in previous events organized by the region.

Comparative analysis of liberalisation schedules and other commitments of the African interim EPAs

Mr. Darlan F. Marti, Programme Officer, Trade for Development Programme at the South Centre served as a discussant in the session on "Comparative analysis of liberalisation schedules and other commitments of the African interim EPAs" at Brussels on 17 April 2008.

The session was organized by APRODEV, ODI and ECDPM as a part of their meeting on the EPA negotiations state of play and assessment of options of the way forward.

'We will all live to regret it', Professor Girvan warns that EPA could widen inequalities among Caricom states

LEADING Caribbean scholar of the political economy, Professor Norman Girvan, has said the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the CARIFORUM group and the European Commission could create wide inequalities among Caricom member states and fragment the Community.

Addressing the closing session of the ninth annual Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) conference at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Friday evening, Girvan called the EPA "an agreement we will all live to regret at a time not too far into the future".

The EPA, which was brokered last December, gives Caribbean countries duty and quota free access in goods (with the temporary exception of rice and sugar) and services to EU, and is supposed to be the replacement for preferential trade agreements.

Read the complete article at:
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20080329T180000-0500_134009_OBS__WE_WILL_ALL_LIVE_TO_REGRET_IT__.asp

South Centre in Media: Implications of the Economic Partnership Agreement

A reference to the South Centre appears in the Jamaica Gleaner in article "Implications of the Economic Partnership Agreement" appearing on January 25, 2008 authored by Guest Commentator, Professor Norman Girvan.

It quotes:

Development assistance in specified forms, quantities, and time-frames is not included in the EPA. If additional investment and development assistance are not forthcoming, there is no provision within the EPA for the promised beneficiaries to be released from their obligations.
This issue may be illustrated with regard to the EPA chapter on innovation and intellectual property. A comment prepared at my request by a team of experts at the South Centre observes that:
"Chapter 2 of Title IV of the draft EPA text covers issues linked with key aspects of socio-economic development of the Cariforum states. One can easily assess the different levels of engagement of the parties under Section 1 and Section 2. Section 1 largely provides for non-binding commitment, declaratory statements, and matters that will be defined during implementation. Section 2 largely establishes binding TRIPS-plus standards that should be implemented by the parties. If Section 1 is assumed to be of interest for Cariforum, then what they are getting from the EPA will be largely promises that may face the inherent difficulty of determining their scope and the kind of measures that can be considered as adequate implementation of the commitments. The implementation of Section 2 is straightforward, involving the introduction of domestic laws to implement the section that can be easily verified and assessed."

For more information:
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20080125/business/business8.html

Statement by a Group of Concerned Caribbean Citizens Calling for Full and Public Review of the Cariforum- EC Economic Partnership Agreement

Dr. Norman Girvan, Board Member of the South Centre draws attention to the statement made by a group of concerned Caribbean citizens who are calling for a full and public review of the Cariforum- EC Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).

The statement is available at: http://www.normangirvan.info/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/statement-by-concerned-caribbean-citizens.pdf

More commentaries on the Cariforum -EC EPA by a range of intellectuals are available at:

http://www.normangirvan.info/

South Centre comments on the Innovation and Intellectual Property in the Cariforum EPA

The Cariforum-EC Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) is more than just a trade agreement: its scope embraces many subjects that have up to now been solely or mainly within national and regional jurisdiction.

The Innovation and Access to Knowledge Programme (IAKP), South Centre has shared its comments on the sections on innovation and intellectual property within the Cariforum EPA. Chapter 2 of Title IV of the draft EPA text covers issues linked with key aspects of socio-economic development of the Cariforum states (CF). One can easily assess the different levels of engagement of the parties under Section 1 and section 2. Section one largely provides for non-binding commitment, declaratory statements, and matters that will be defined during implementation. Section two largely establishes binding TRIPS-plus standards that should be implemented by the parties. If Section 1 is assumed to be of interest for CF, then what they are getting from the EPA will be largely promises that may faces the inherent difficulty of determining its scope and the kind of measures that can be considered as adequate implementation of the commitments. The implementation of Section 2 is straightforward- involving the introduction of domestic laws to implement the section that can be easily verified and assessed.

Read the entire comments at
http://www.normangirvan.info/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/comment-on-ip-chapter.pdf

Implications of the Cariforum-EC EPA by Norman Girvan

The Cariforum-EC Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) is more than just a trade agreement: its scope embraces many subjects that have up to now been solely or mainly within national and regional jurisdiction. As a legally binding international instrument it embodies a far higher degree of supranational governance than that of Caricom. It will, inevitably, condition the scope and content of future agreements made between Caricom and other major trading partners and the region’s stance in WTO negotiations.

Read the complete article authored by Dr. Norman Girvan, Member of the Board, South Centre at:
http://www.normangirvan.info/implications-of-the-cariforum-ec-epa-norman-girvan/

Defining a methodology for the identification of sensitive industrial products

Darlan F. Martí, Programme Officer, Trade for Development Programme contributed to a West African regional workshop on "Defining a methodology for the identification of sensitive industrial products" in the context of EPA negotiations.

The workshop was organised by the ECOWAS Commission in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) from 12 to 14 November. It intended to provide governmental and private sector stakeholders with a platform to discuss the pertinence of industrial policies in West Africa, as well as a possible methodology to identify industrial products which may require special attention during the EPA liberalisation process. The South Centre has acted as a facilitator to these discussions, on the basis of the document "Guidelines for the identification of sensitive products" prepared by the Trade for Development Programme.

Trade deal a game of high stakes: An Op-Ed by Yash Tandon

An opinion piece written by Yash Tandon, Executive Director, South Centre today appears in the Business Daily (Nairobi).

In the next few days, our leaders will decide whether to sign a new trade agreement with Europe. It will be a tough judgment call. The decision they make will weigh heavily on the course of our region’s development for decades to come. We have a long history with Europe in the light of which we must interpret current events. The proposed agreement by Europe will change the nature of our relationship from cooperation to one based on purely mercantile considerations. The EU and the ACP “partners” will be bound by the same rules. However, when unequal partners play by the same rules, the outcome is always in favour of the stronger side. With the proposal on the table it isn’t difficult to see who is likely to win. Analyses on the potential impact of the agreements prepared by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) show that the proposed opening up of 80 per cent of trade of the Eastern Africa Community (EAC) with Europe, will result in loss of tariff revenue of up to $130m per year.

Read the complete article at:
http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4428&Itemid=5821

The East African (Kenya): South Centre- Traps Africa must avoid in talks with EU

The outcome of Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations, set for this December, will change a decades-old reciprocal trading regime between the European Union (EU) and African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) countries. Specifically, negotiations on trade in services under the EPAs have important development implications for Eastern and Southern African (ESA) countries, states Joy Kategekwa, Programme Officer at South Centre in her article "Traps Africa must avoid in talks with EU" published in the The East African (Kenya) newspaper.

The countries that constitute the ESA negotiating group are Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, many of which are also the poorest and least developed in the world. For them, ensuring universal access to basic services such as health, education, sanitation, and water, as opposed to exporting services — which is the rationale behind a free trade agreement, is the real priority, and challenge.

Read complete article at: http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/current/Opinion/2110200724.htm

African Countries should move slowly in Service Trade Talks with EU

OCTOBER 2007 (IPS) - The outcome of Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations, set for this December, will change a decades-old reciprocal trading regime between the European Union and African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) countries. Specifically, negotiations on trade in services under the EPAs have important development implications for Eastern and Southern African (ESA) countries, writes Joy Kategekwa, programme officer for trade in services at the South Centre's Trade for Development Programme.

In this article, the author writes that the EU is seeking "most favoured nation" status for its service suppliers in the ESA region, which would not only give EU companies unlimited access to the ESA market on terms similar to those enjoyed by ESA countries, in the context of their various regional integration initiatives, but also automatic access to the treatment that ESA countries give to all other trading partners, with whom they have services economic integration agreements, or with whom, the ESA process of liberalisation has led to some form of services liberalisation.

In making national treatment commitments for the EU, ESA countries lose the ability to retain any measures that favor local/ESA service suppliers, over EU ones. In sum, the outcome of the EPA on services, along the lines proposed by the EU,would bar ESA countries from implementing certain policy instruments or regulations that could increase the participation of local services suppliers particularly in the context of intra-regional trade.

More information: http://www.ipsnews.net/columns.asp?idnews=39591