Ethiopia and EPA Negotiation 2008 - FES Ethiopia

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internal taxation and regulation Article 18.6 Bilateral safeguards Article 21.5 b) Economic and Development Cooperation Fisheries national treatment for infant industries and also more broadly for development needs. There is a bias in favour of LDCs - so that they can apply safeguards to protect infant industries for 15 years instead of 10 years. ESA has 16 dedicated articles on specific development cooperation aspects. The texts are identical caveats. There is no distinction between LDCs and non-LDCs in the EAC text. EAC has one article that states broad areas of cooperation - such as sustained growth, regional integration, fostering structural transformation, addressing supply capacity, etc. Paragraph 2 also spells out funding will come from the EDF, Aid for Trade and the EU General Budget. The ESA text better reflects the needs of Ethiopia. There is very little in terms of attention being paid to development needs in the EAC text. The ESA text has little of financial value either but the areas covered make it more comprehensive. AREAS FOR FUTURE NEGOTIATIONS Rendez-vous Clause Article 53 ESA, Article 37 EAC DISPUTE AVOIDANCE AND SETTLEMENT, INSTITUTIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS General exception clause Article 40 EAC, Article 56 ESA g) mentions current payments and capital payments i) mentions good governance No extra paragraph. Neither of these areas are included in the EAC text for future negotiations. Paragraph h) gives an extra exemption to the EAC countries. This is where practices are inconsistent with Articles 17 on National Treatment, provided that the difference in treatment is aimed at ensuring the effective or equitable imposition or collection of direct taxes in respect of Ethiopia may wish to review the content of the future negotiations very carefully as it includes TRI and services. The inclusion of these topics may not be commensurate with the ambitions of Ethiopia. This allows an exemption in relation to tax policy, perhaps this should be included in the ESA text. 56 | P a g e
Relations between this Agreement and the comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement Article 43 EAC, Article 59 ESA Special Committee on Customs Cooperation Article 48 EAC Accession Article 50 EAC Article 66 ESA Amendments Article 68 ESA In case there is any inconsistency between the comprehensive EPA and this Interim Agreement, the comprehensive EPA shall prevail to the extent of such inconsistency. This does not exist in the ESA text In ESA the EPA committee will determine who enters the agreement and under what conditions. This elaborates the possibilities for amending the agreement Annex 1.4 ESA is awarded 75,000 extra tonnes of sugar for export in the 2008/09 season. Annex on Development Matrix Annex on rules of origin and liberalisation schedules of countries The liberalisation schedules are not attached to the ESA agreement economic activities. This Agreement shall remain in force until the comprehensive EPA enters into force. The article establishes a committee with specific responsibility for customs cooperation. In the EAC agreement a country can become a member of the EAC and automatically become a member of the Interim Agreement. Does not exist in EAC text. EAC is awarded 15,000 tonnes. This does not exist in the EAC text. The rules of origin annex is not attached to the EAC agreement. These are the full texts of each article and show that there is a difference in understanding of what could be happening in the different regions. ESA seem to have a wider caveat for not implementing the full EPA. It is not clear why one has not been set up in the ESA text, it would be beneficial as it would support structural transformation of customs procedures. There is more flexibility in the EAC agreement and there is no role for the EPA committee to stipulate conditions as there is in ESA. The EAC text may better reflect the needs of Ethiopia. It is better to have such an article to allow renegotiation of controversial areas. This is not such an important issue for Ethiopia. 57 | P a g e
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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 and 36: different documentation requirement
Page 37 and 38: negotiation on the Full EPA with EC
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: Scope of Application Article 6 Clas
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Ethiopia and EPA Negotiation 2008 - FES Ethiopia

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