By Jean d’Amour Mugabo
Amb. Michael Ryan, the head of European Union Delegation to Rwanda has commended Rwanda’s commitment to sign the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the EU and East African Community member states.
“I am very much encouraged by the approach of Rwanda. The approach of Trade Minister Francois Kanimba is very much in favour of the EPA and we would see no EAC country lose the ratification of the EPA with EU,” , Amb. Ryan told journalists yesterday after his visit to Speaker Donatille Mukabalisa at the Parliament buildings in Kigali.
Rwanda and Kenya are still committed to sign the deal while Tanzania and Uganda decided to delay the signing because of the Britain’s vote (Brexit) to leave the EU bloc in the referendum of June 23.
The EPA signing was expected on July 18 but was postponed until October 1st because the EAC states are divided on whether the deal will benefit the infant local manufactures or will see the big European investors dominate the EAC market.
However, Minister Kanimba warned of the possible cracks in the region if the deal is not signed and urged the EAC politicians to consider the region’s collective gains ahead of individual state’s interests and sign the EU-EAC deal, according to The East African.
Amb. Ryan said Brexit is an issue which is preoccupying for the European Union but Britain still a member of the EU as it has not yet triggered article 50 (of the EU charter).
“I think there has been a lot of misconception in the EAC to say because of the possibility of Britain leaving, that our EPA has to be put on hold. There is no excuse for Tanzania or any other partner state to say ‘ooh let’s wait and see what the EU is doing before we go ahead on signing,'” he said, adding that EU has done everything to address concerns about potentials of European investors to dominate the EAC market.
Ryan said that Rwanda is doing a great job in advancing the EPA and encouraged all EAC countries to go ahead and sign the agreement.
“I think there are other relations on the table and Brexit should not be an excuse. There are many specific safeguards and measures in EPA to protect Kenyans, Burundians, Ugandan… investors. So, there is nothing to fear, we should go ahead. We negotiated this agreement last year, it is unheard of to stop and turn around on this agreement. So, it is a very unfortunate situation,” he said.
Though each partner state was to sign the EPA with EU individually, the EAC had undertaken negotiations as a bloc but things may change as some countries like Kenya and Rwanda are likely to negotiate the deal individually.
The EU-EAC trade agreement would avoid paying up to 30% export duties from October, this year.
Ryan’s courtesy call to Speaker Mukabalisa on Tuesday aimed to prepare the four-day visit of EU lawmakers to Rwanda from September 20 to share experiences about gender issues.
Source: All Africa
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of TradeMark Africa.
Quote: “There are many specific safeguards and measures in EPA to protect Kenyans, Burundians, Ugandan… investors. So, there is nothing to fear, we should go ahead.”
Can someone mention specifically the “specific safeguards and measures” in the EPA (by article numbers, and explanation of each article’s intention)?