Trade issues took centre stage during the 103^rd session of the Council of Ministers of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States, which was held on 25-29 April in Dakar, Senegal. Ministers discussed prospects regarding the Economic partnership agreements (EPAs) still under negotiation with the European Union, as well as issues related to trade in various commodities, such as fishing products and sugar, among others.
Ministers also expressed their determination and enthusiasm in advance of the upcoming Summit of Heads of State and Government of ACP countries, which will take place in Papua New Guinea from May 10 to June 1. Hopes are high that the meeting will provide the needed political mandate to rejuvenate the organisation, as well as a foundation on which to build productive engagement regarding the future of the relations between the EU and the ACP Group.
The meeting of ACP ministers was followed by a session of the ACP-EU Joint Council of Ministers, which gathered ministers from ACP countries and their counterparts from the European Union.
A call for flexibility on the Economic partnerships agreements
During the meeting of the council, ministers of the ACP Group agreed on a resolution regarding the Economic partnership agreements between the different ACP regions and the EU.
The EPAs are reciprocal – although asymmetrical – trade agreements between the EU and seven ACP regions, namely Central Africa, Eastern and Southern Africa, the East African Community, the Southern African Development Community, West Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific.
To date, only the Carribean region has signed and ratified a comprehensive regional agreement with the EU, which is currently being implemented. Three other regional groupings – West Africa, East African Community, and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) – have also concluded their negotiations with the EU, but those EPAs are still awaiting signature and ratification.
In the resolution adopted last week, the ACP ministers renewed their call for flexibility on the part of the EU, “so that outstanding negotiations can be concluded for mutual benefit”, states a press release by the ACP Group. They also asked for the EU to resume the stalled negotiations with Central Africa, Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) and the Pacific at the ministerial level, further indicates the communiqué.
Another important element, according to ACP ministers, lies in the support that ACP states will be able to get in order to put the EPAs into effect once ratified. They thus underlined the need for predictable, additional and adequate technical assistance and financing in order to ensure a smooth implementation of the agreements.
In its trade strategy presented in October 2015, the European Commission also stressed the crucial importance of the implementation of the EPAs.
“The Commission will work with African partners to ensure effective implementation of EPAs by putting in place strong institutions, structures and mechanisms, which also contribute to enhancing rule of law reforms and good governance,” states the document.
Other trade-related questions
During this 103^rd session of the council, ministers called on all ACP member states to participate in the 14th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, which will take place on 17-22 July in Nairobi. They expressed their determination to enhance their relationship with UNCTAD, in order to better leverage the potential of trade as a vector of growth and sustainable development.
The council also discussed the important issue of fisheries, on which it made a specific resolution. The document asks the secretariat of the ACP Group to support ACP countries in their efforts to negotiate better bilateral Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements with the EU. It also calls on the secretariat to keep on working in collaboration with regional fisheries organisations and institutions.
Ministers also mentioned the work conducted at the World Trade Organization (WTO). “Issues regarding fisheries subsidies and Special Differential Treatment are to be pursued in the post-Nairobi work programme of the World Trade Organisation (WTO)”, states the press release by the ACP Group.
Patrick Gomes, the Secretary General of the ACP Group, reportedly affirmed that only an initial step was made at the WTO’s 10^th Ministerial conference (MC10), which was held last December in Nairobi, on the issue of fisheries subsidies. At MC10, despite substantial negotiations on the topic, no significant result was obtained in this area.
The subject of fisheries was also discussed at the beginning of the year during a visit of Roberto Azevêdo, the Director General of the WTO, in Dakar, Senegal. Underlining the lack of significant progress on fisheries subsidies, the Senegalese Trade Minister, Alioune Sarr, indicated that WTO members should not abandon their efforts to make progress on this important issue (see Bridges Africa, 1 April 2016).
The council adopted another resolution on the issue of sugar, in which ACP ministers welcome some of the recent developments in talks with the EU. Those include guarantees that there will be no automatic application of the EU Safeguard Mechanism and that the EU will not impose requirements regarding Country of Origin Labelling (COOL) for sugar.
Ministers also discussed about cashew nut exports, which the ACP Group would like to expand. Gomes reportedly underlined that this product has been very successful, with value addition means for processing and employment, in particular for women in agro-processing and packaging.
“So, along those lines, we are negotiating very strongly and looking at terms under which our products can go with more value addition to the European market”, declared the ACP Secretary General.
ACP-EU Joint Council of ministers
The council of ACP ministers was followed by a meeting of the ACP-EU Joint council of ministers. During the event, the two co-presidents of the body expressed their will to align the cooperation framework between the ACP Group and the EU with the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs), which were adopted last September as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
“For more than 40 years the ACP Group and the EU have shared the same vision for a fruitful partnership, and orienting our cooperation towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development will bring an added value to global efforts. We look forward to taking concrete steps towards harmonising our positions in this regard,” said Raphaël Mokoko, Minister of planning and integration of the Republic of Congo and one of the co-presidents of the joint council.
The meeting also addressed issues such as development finance, trade cooperation, private sector development, and the EU’s global strategy on foreign policy and security. Participants also discussed about the future of the ACP-EU partnership and the form it might take after 2020.
Source: ICTSD

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