The EU is currently negotiating EPAs or Economic Partnership Agreements  with 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. These EPAs will be at the heart of the economic and trade cooperation pillar of the Cotonou Agreement (an international agreement between the EU and the ACP, agreed in June 2000 – for details see below).

The Cotonou agreement granted to the ACP nations a zero percent duty tariff on all processed and unprocessed tuna products which originated from these countries. This favourable tariff have always helped ACP nations compete against Asian tuna producing nations, such as Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam, which all face a 24% duty tariff on processed tuna products. For ACP nations the continuation of a 0% tariff on tuna is crucial for the existence and the future of their local tuna industries.  Without such favourable trade agreement tuna industries in Seychelles, Mauritius, Papua New Guinea, Ivory Coats and many other nations would possibly be doomed.

Negotiations on EPAs began in September 2002.  At the opening ceremony the then EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said, “The EU and ACP will work together to integrate poorer countries better into the global economy and to fight poverty through trade and economic co-operation”.

EPAs are due to come into force by 2008 and will progressively remove barriers to trade between the EU and the ACP countries concerned. EPAs will be fully WTO compatible and will therefore put EU trade relations with the ACP countries on a secure and sustainable footing, as well as contributing to regional integration of the ACP itself. The ACP countries are divided into 6 regions which are each negotiating their own EPA. The regions are: the Caribbean, the Pacific, East and Southern Africa (ESA), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), West Africa (ECOWAS) and Central Africa (CEMAC).

The aim of economic and trade cooperation is to advance the smooth and gradual integration of the ACP countries into the world market, with the emphasis on promoting sustainable development and contributing to poverty eradication in ACP countries.

EU member states are working closely with the European Commission (who are negotiating these agreements on behalf of the EU), and other Member States and ACP countries to ensure that these agreements are truly development focused and designed to deliver long-term development, economic growth and poverty reduction in ACP countries.

The Department for International Development (DFID) is providing support to strengthen the trade policymaking process in the ACP countries through a number of programmes. In addition DFID has undertaken a considerable programme of research on key development issues within EPAs, such as reciprocity, inclusion of investment and competition and transitional assistance. Further information can be found on the DFID website in the related external links.

At a meeting in April 2006 the General Affairs and External Relations Council adopted the Council Conclusions on the Economic Partnership Agreements. These conclusions have the support of all member states. For full details of these conclusions see attached paper in the related links.

EU member states are now focused on ensuring an effective review of the EPA negotiations, which were initially meant to be cue to concluded in early 2007, but are still underway in many cases. The aim of the review is to take stock of progress across the ACP on specific priority issues, including full participation of the ACP, which is essential for a constructive joint review, and to help steer the EPA negotiations during 2007 towards successful conclusion. At this moment many EPA negotiations are still not concluded, and this might cause major problems in regard to the instructions to EU customs, on what to do from Jan 1st 2008, in regard to tuna imports from former ACP countries.

The Cotonou Agreement

The Cotonou Agreement is a commitment between the ACP and the EU to work together towards the achievement of the objectives of poverty eradication, sustainable development, and the gradual integration of the ACP into the world economy (see related document links at the top of this page for full text).

The fourth Cotonou Convention expired at the end of February 2000 and was replaced by a new overarching agreement on 1 March 2000. This new agreement was signed on 23 June 2000 in Benin, and is now known as the Cotonou Agreement.

It replaced the Lome Convention which had since 1975 provided a framework for trade, aid and political relations between the EU and 77 ACP (sub-Saharan Africa, plus Caribbean and Pacific) countries. Under Cotonou, the ACPs have open, non-reciprocal access to the EU market for substantially all industrial goods and for a wide range of agricultural products. Current trade arrangements with the ACP will be rolled over during the transitional period, until completion of the EPA negotiations in 2008.  

Before 2008, new WTO compatible arrangements will have to be agreed. These new EPAs will be in the form of reciprocal Free Trade Agreements between the EU and 6 regions of ACP countries, and therefore represent a significant improvement in the nature of EU/ACP trade relationships, and a positive move for ACP countries towards smoother integration into the world economy. The negotiations began on 27 September 2002 and will be agreed by the end of 2007.