KAMPALA, UGANDA — As the deadline for East African Community (EAC) members state to conclude the controversial Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the European Union (EU) draws close, voices of opposition from civil society get louder, while traders worry.
As EAC member states negotiating delegations return to Arusha this week, to negotiate the EPAs, Uganda’s state minister for Trade, Eng. Nelson Gagawalla Wambuzi says the ongoing negotiations will bear a “reasonable deal.”
The five partner states agreed to negotiate EPAs under EAC configuration, although they also agreed to “open up an avenue to pursue other options”.
Gaggawalla however says that consultations are still incomplete, an indication that this week may also pass without a signing ceremony.
“The talks are on course, this week we are going back to Arusha,” Wambuzi said. “There is nothing to worry about we are going to get a reasonable deal, we are sure otherwise the traders will eat us alive. If there is no deal things will go hey wire.”
Last week, the East African Business Council (EABC) expressed concern that the delay in talks was affecting exports heading to the EU countries.
“The uncertainty is detrimental affecting business plans particularly for the E U destined export companies as they cannot easily negotiate favourable contracts with European Union partners for transactions beyond the life of the current EU-ACP agreement which guarantees duty free access,” Arun Devani, the Chairman of the Council said.
The controversial EPAs are free trade agreements between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, which allow both parties full access to each others’ markets.
However the thorn in the EPAs is that the EU wants to go beyond trade in goods with ACP countries, to other areas including investment, competition, government procurement and services.
The African Caribbean Pacific countries have up to December 30, 2007 to sign the EPAs or go with WTO rules of non-preferential trading terms between the big industrial economies and the weak third world.
Civil society and fair trade activists oppose the EPAs demands saying that they will give superior EU companies unlimited access to the East African markets, something that will sound a death knell to local industry.
Mr. Elly Twineyo, the executive director of the African Centre for Trade and Development (ACTADE), urged government not to sign the EPAs saying that they will disarm the country from protecting her markets from EU imports unlike previous agreements.
Twineyo said that any agreement Uganda signs should help the country to create wealth and generate assets.
“Previous Lome agreements had non-reciprocal trading relationships, ACP countries could protect their markets from EU imports while ACP exports had better access to EU but EPAs mark a radical departure from this,” Twineyo said.
Twineyo said that Uganda doesn’t have investment laws to control the infiltration of European companies if the EPAs are get the green light.
