Economic Partnership Agreement Negotiations In Limbo

Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations between West Africa and the European Union (EU) are in a limbo due to differences over market access, the regional grouping ECOWAS said yesterday.

ECOWAS Commissioner for Trade and Industry, Mohammed Daramy, said a meeting between ECOWAS and the EU last week in Brussels did not make any progress due to the unresolved issues of market access, adding that an agreement scheduled for signing at the end of next month, "might not happen".

"They just want to give 80 per cent market opening, but based on our technical analysis, we don't believe we are ready to go 80 per cent right now," Mr. Daramy told reporters on the sidelines at a meeting of ECOWAS Trade and Industry experts in the Ivorian capital, Abidjan.

"Until these points are cleared, I don't see any time-frame for signing an EPA agreement," he said.

Representing Ghana at the Abidjan meeting is Mr. Johnson Adasi, Director of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SME), Ministry of Trade and Industry, who co-chaired the working sessions.

The experts are expected to finalise a common industrial policy which seeks to address challenges facing the various member countries and promote growth of the regional economy.

ECOWAS is negotiating as a sub-group of the larger Africa, Caribbean and Pacific grouping to create a mutually beneficial liberalised trade zone between member countries and the European Union.

However, the negotiations have persistently dragged with several postponements; compelling Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire, the world's leading cocoa producers, to sign interim agreements with the EU to enable them continue shipment of their commodities abroad.

Mr. Daramy said ECOWAS can give "at most" 70 per cent of its market under the terms and in return will demand commitment of the EU to support EPA development programmes.

"We believe we need to increase local processing to add value to our goods -- we don't want our factories to be closed and create unemployment and social instability."

Mr. Daramy said the persistent delays in reaching a deal will not push ECOWAS to take a decision that will only serve a short term interest of the Region, adding that the bloc is pursuing other options including trade deals with China, India and Brazil under south-south cooperation.

Mr. Daramy said that ECOWAS is in the "driver's seat" and that it will only seek the good of its people anywhere it can get it," he said.

He said an ECOWAS-China business forum will be held in Abidjan soon as part of an international trade fair to boost trade between the two sides.

Source: GNA