ACP Ministers agree joint WTO position and discuss EPAs
ACP Trade Ministers and the ACP Council met in November and agreed a communiqué and declaration, building on the African Ministers of Trade meeting held at the end of October, setting out their common position on all major issues to be discussed at the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference on 29 November-2 December. The ACP called for the multilateral trading system to support all countries in their development efforts and expressed concerns over the lack of progress in the Doha Development Agenda negotiations. They also called for negotiations to build on past agreements and urged partners to make firm commitments to provide adequate financial and technical assistance and capacity building programmes, including aid for trade.
The EC representative at the meeting indicated the bloc’s frustration at the failure of the United States to fully engage in the WTO process, and noted that it is unlikely the round will be concluded before 2011 without greater involvement by the US. The ACP Geneva Secretariat presented a document entitled "Understanding and managing the notification of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) at the WTO: A manual for ACP delegations". The manual seeks to provide a better understanding of the provisions of the WTO transparency mechanism on Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) and the procedural and substantive challenges that both the notification and examination of EPAs entail. It highlights some of the complex issues which may be raised during the review process, such as those relating to the definition of "substantially all trade" coverage, transition periods for tariff liberalisation and the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) provisions of EPAs.
ACP Ministers noted that while it was a requirement to notify interim or full EPAs to the WTO, as they are implemented, signature is not a technical precondition for notification. The EC had insisted on signature ostensibly because this was a legal prerequisite on its part. Compliance with the current provisions of Article XXIV of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) as interpreted by the EC, in terms of definition of substantially all trade and transition periods, was identified as a major stumbling block for most ACP States and regions to conclude the trade in goods part of the EPAs.
ACP Ministers were informed that the EC remains reluctant to hold the requested ACP-EU EPA Summit on the grounds that contentious issues are being resolved at a regional level. Other issues were discussed, such as the need for a review of the Rules of Origin so that cumulation could take place at the regional and all-ACP levels, including with non EPA ACP States, and the creation of an ACP Ministerial Fisheries Mechanism to ensure recommendations are taken into account when major ACP-EU programs, projects and/or texts are being reviewed. Ministers will seek inclusion of language in the revised ACP-EU Partnership Agreement (the "Cotonou Agreement") to provide for ACP countries to benefit from accompanying measures to improve their competitiveness in light of the effects of tariff liberalisation. The ACP is also seeking amendments to other trade related aspects in the Cotonou Agreement’s revision. The ACP Council elected Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, current Secretary General of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Secretariat, to be the next ACP Group Secretary General from 1 March 2010-1 March 2015.
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