Latest on Economic Partnership Agreements
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Development Goal 8: Aid, Trade, Growth
To date, 35 countries have signed Economic Partnership
Agreements:
- Central African Economic and Monetary Community: Cameroon
- East African Community: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and
Burundi
- East and Southern Africa: Zimbabwe, Seychelles, Mauritius,
Comoros and Madagascar
- Southern African Development Community: Botswana, Namibia,
Mozambique, Swaziland and Lesotho
- Pacific: Papua New Guinea and Fiji
- West Africa: Ivory Coast, Ghana
- Caribbean: Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados,
Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica,
St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname,
Trinidad and Tobago
On 20 December 2007, European Union Member States adopted the Economic
Partnership Agreement Regulation. This Regulation formalised the market access
offer of 100% duty-free, quota-free market access to the European Union with
 improved
rules of origin for African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries that had
signed WTO-compatible agreements. The European Commission has stated that the 42
remaining countries of the ACP group which have not signed an EPA are free to do
so, and they will continue negotiations with these other countries. The 35 EPA
signatories include the majority of non-Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in the
ACP. These non-LDCs had the most to lose by not signing an EPA as they would
have been subject to raised tariffs on 01 January 2008 through the Generalised
System of Preferences (GSP) scheme. The countries which have not signed EPAs are
mostly LDCs which will now utilise the Everything But Arms scheme, which allows
duty-free access into the EU for all LDCs the world over.
Of the seven EPAs which have been signed, only one is considered a ‘full’ or
‘comprehensive’ EPA by the Commission. This is the Caribbean EPA, which includes
not just provisions on trade in goods which were essential to comply with WTO
rules, but services, investment, competition and public procurement aspects,
among others. The remaining six ‘interim EPAs’ all focus on goods only, but
mostly include clauses to continue negotiations on these other areas this year.
On 10 December, the UK, along with the Netherlands, Denmark and Ireland, made a
declaration setting out our continued concern for non-LDCs who have not yet
initialled an agreement, of which there are still some.
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Declaration on EPAs
Statement made by the United Kingdom along with Denmark, Ireland and the
Netherlands on 10 December 2007:
"Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom welcome the
vigorous efforts made by ACP countries and the European Commission to complete
EPA negotiations by the close of 2007.
"We are pleased that to date 17 ACP partners have secured significantly
improved market access and opened up strong prospects for regional integration
through the EPA framework. We are also pleased that all Least Developed ACP
countries will continue to receive duty free and quota free market access
through their inclusion in the Everything But Arms initiative.
"We regret that a number of other developing country ACP partners who are
still involved in negotiations on EPAs have not been included in the Regulation
and therefore face the risk of higher tariffs from January 2008. We continue to
urge the Commission to show flexibility in reaching agreements on goods market
access by the end of 2007, and to avoid ACP countries being made worse off from
the 1st January."
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Below is a range of material on EPAs including UK Government policy and DFID
supported research projects:
Last updated 15 January 2008
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