Ethiopia and EPA Negotiation 2008 - FES Ethiopia

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African governments with mercantilist sentiments this approach is particularly seductive compared to situation where they are being dictated to by others. The EBA strategy should, in addition to focusing on the EU as a trading partner, aim at nurturing and extending trade relationship with all emerging economies such as India, Russia, Brazil and China. The emerging economies, due to their industralisation, offer least developed countries higher prices for natural resources although one might question if the commodity boom is lasting. For mercantilist governments, relationship with these emerging economies is particularly attractive as they don’t force LDCs to lower their tariffs. In sum, it is important for Ethiopia to keep working on these relationships. 6.3 Concluding a Full EPA Concluding a Full EPA in line with Cotonou Partnership Agreement is the declared objective of all the parties in the EPA negotiation. However, there is no agreed definition about the range of issues that will be covered by the Full EPA. In January 2008 Staff Working Paper, EC clearly outlined that the goal is to put in place the elements of a comprehensive trade package that supports economic growth and regional integration by including trade in services, rules that promote investment and development assistance. 42 While the Interim EPA limits itself to a WTO compatible agenda of negotiating a deal only on trade in goods, the nature of the Full EPA goes beyond trade in goods issues. It is a comprehensive WTO-compatible FTA, covering trade in goods and liberalization of trade in services, trade related issues (investment, competition, government procurement, intellectual property rights, trade and environment) and development issues. It will also build on the duty and quotafree access to the EU market for all products (with transition periods for rice and sugar), the improved rules of origin, and opening up of ESA markets to imports from the EU agreed under the Interim EPA. It is hoped that the Full EPA will include provisions on development cooperation. The EC itself said that the Full EPA will follow up on EU commitments on Aid for Trade by concluding the 10 th EDF regional programmes and delivering on EU commitments under Aid for Trade. This is an ambitious package; yet it is doable. The Caribbean has already concluded a Full EPA. The ESA Group held a technical meeting in Lilongwe, Malawi from 14 April-21 April to discuss a range of issues in preparation for the 42 EC, EU-ACP Economic Partnership Agreements: State of Play and Key Issues for 2008, P.5 36 | P a g e
negotiation on the Full EPA with EC. The ESA Group meeting technical discussion was focused on the issue of market access, services and trade related issues. The market access meeting tried to advance negotiations on trade facilitation, SPS, TBT and some of the contentious issues in the Interim text on trade in goods. The objectives of the technical meeting on trade in services is to build consensus on the importance of services in the EPA context, review of positions of other regions and EC proposals on trade in services in the EPA context. On trade related issues, the approach is to discuss capacity building, technical assistance and where appropriate rules on the issues of government procurement, competition policy, intellectual property rights and investment. Most importantly, this meeting will be followed by the 13 th Summit of COMESA and the 10 th ESA Council and ESA technical meeting and ESA-EC negotiators meeting in mid- May. EPA will be a major subject of consideration in these meetings, in particular the progress of negotiations and our regional integration agenda, and avoid discord between EPA and regional integration. The EAC also held similar discussion with EC in Brussels in April. 43 This shows there is already fragmentation within the regions as EAC and most of the ESA countries part ways in continuing the negotiation with EC. Kenya, however, is participating in both the ESA and EAC negotiation with the EU. Their participation in both configurations will mean that the Kenyans tend to have a broader and deeper perspective in the negotiations although they weren’t chosen to chair any of the technical groups. Uganda, on the other hand, had written the COMESA Secretariat that it had withdrawn from the ESA configuration. It is hoped the COMESA summit will address this problem of negotiation configuration. One possible way resolving the configuration problem can be the simple restoration of the ESA configuration. This approach, however, will mean that the different liberalization schedules of the ESA signatories and EAC be aligned and harmonized. It will also mean that it should be acceptable to the non-signatories who will be party to the full EPA. In addition, all ESA members, including the EAC countries, might try to coordinate and harmonise their positions in the negotiation of a comprehensive EPA with the EU. More recently, EAC Ministers tabled a proposal to their SADC and ESA partners which aim to create a larger trading bloc encompassing COMESA and SADC ‘in order to eliminate friction amongst states over deals signed with partners outside the continent’. 44 While it is too early to tell whether and when this will materialise, a tripartite summit among 43 Author’s discussion with EAC negotiators in Lilongwe, Malawi, 20 April 2008 44 Ministers propose bigger East African trading bloc, Allan Odhiambo, Business Daily Africa, 13 February 2008, http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5847&Itemid=5813 37 | P a g e
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Page 3 and 4: References ........................
Page 5 and 6: Unilateral preference programs not
Page 7 and 8: Cotonou Agreement. The Cotonou Agre
Page 9 and 10: egional trade arrangements envisage
Page 11 and 12: 4. Content of the Interim EPAs As o
Page 13 and 14: country inputs in such key areas as
Page 15 and 16: African LDCs signed the Interim EPA
Page 17 and 18: the policy space of developing coun
Page 19 and 20: have the audacity to claim otherwis
Page 21 and 22: sale for export between the parties
Page 23 and 24: goods involved in the fraud and imp
Page 25 and 26: instruments remain to be negotiated
Page 27 and 28: 6.1 Initialling/ acceding to Develo
Page 29 and 30: The EBA regime provides duty free a
Page 31 and 32: etween the EU and Ethiopia as these
Page 33 and 34: cost. It should also be noted that
Page 35: different documentation requirement
Page 39 and 40: The final outcome of the EAC-EC EPA
Page 41 and 42: and eastern African countries. Harm
Page 43 and 44: 7. Conclusion: Key Issues Ahead The
Page 45 and 46: importance of technical cooperation
Page 47 and 48: the framework rules on procurement
Page 49 and 50: addressed since most of the CARIFOR
Page 51 and 52: References 1. Agritrade, EPA Negoti
Page 53 and 54: 19. Roberta Piermartini, The Role o
Page 55 and 56: Scope of Application Article 6 Clas
Page 57 and 58: Relations between this Agreement an

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