East African Community (EAC) partner states have reportedly harmonised a ‘final’ position regarding the proposed Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) with the European Union, The New Times understands.

According to Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed, the partner states reached a consensus on the contentious clauses in the EPA draft during a two-day ministerial meeting in Arusha, Tanzania, at the weekend.

Mohammed made the remarks on Sunday while addressing Kenyan media during which she also revealed that, "we were able to agree and all of us were able to sign on to the economic partnership draft.”

In Rwanda, efforts to get a comment from Amb. Valentine Rugwabiza, the minister for East African Community affairs, were futile as she said she was busy.

However, Flavia Salafina, the ministry’s information, education and communication officer, said the minister would brief themedia on the matter today.

Richard Othieno Owora, the head of corporate communications and public affairs at the EAC Secretariat in Arusha, was also not available for comment.

But he had last week told The New Times that ministers from partner states would meet on September 20, to come up with a joint position on some of the sticky points in the proposed economic partnership agreement with Europe.

However, Owora did not divulge details of the sticky issues.

The Saturday meeting was a follow up to the Sectoral Council on Trade, Industry, Finance and Investment meeting, which took place from September 9 to 10, in Arusha.

Tanzania and Burundi excused themselves from that meeting claiming that they had been informed on short notice; but Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya went ahead and met and forwarded details of what they had discussed to their two missing counterparts.

In response, Burundi reportedly expressed concurrence but Tanzania didn’t and requested that it would submit its comments for discussion during the 29th meeting of the Council at the weekend.

Missed deadlines

If the weekend meetings climaxed with a harmonised position on the agreement draft, the development means that EAC will now present that position to their EU counterparts and face off in what could ‘hopefully be the final’ round of negotiations and give way for the ratification of the partnership.

Earlier, technical experts from both sides (EAC and EU) were scheduled to meet from yesterday (September 22 to 26) to reportedly ‘negotiate pending issues and clean up the EPA text’ based on the outcomes of the Ministerial meetings held over the weekend.

That schedule was reshuffled in a brief Friday e-mail from the EAC Secretariat.

"Following the deliberations of the Coordination Committee on this issue (EAC-EU EPA negotiations) during the ongoing 29th meeting of the Council, it has been decided that the above-mentioned meetings be rescheduled to the following week of 29 September 2014,” the e-mail said.

"In this regard, the Secretariat is rescheduling the meetings [to take place] from 2nd to 4th October 2014 in Nairobi.” it added.

By rescheduling the meetings to October 2 to 4, it means the EAC would definitely miss the set deadline of October 1, when the EU expected the partners to have reached a consensus over the EPA, concluded negotiations and signed the final agreement.

It was reported in The Sunday Times that that deadline, which has been rescheduled several times before, would have severe trade consequences to some EAC members such as Kenya, given that it would mark the expiry of the EU Market Access Regulation 1528/2007 for the EAC.

The EU Market Access Regulation 1528/2007 is the current arrangement under which East Africa enjoys a preferential trade regime with Europe, but as a temporary understanding awaiting the conclusion of the EPA, this arrangement, by plan, expires on October 1.

But in a turn of events, the EAC Secretariat sent another e-mail to senior officials in partner states, reinstating the earlier schedule of the meetings set to take place from September 22 to 26.

"The Council of Ministers agreed to keep the earlier schedule of meetings but this time the meetings will be held from September 23-26, in Nairobi,” said Emmanuel Hategeka, permanent secretary in Rwanda’s Ministry of Trade and Industry, who will be part of delegation to the meetings.

Final document

During the meetings, which start tomorrow, technical experts from both sides are expected to negotiate pending issues and ‘clean up’ the EPA text [to prepare the final document].

That will be followed by the meeting of senior officials, including the Permanent Secretaries from both sides to conclude negotiations on the "outstanding issues” and, if all is agreed upon, proceed to initiate the signing of the pact by the ministers.

Asked to elaborate on what the contentious clauses have been, PS Hategeka declined, saying it would be "inappropriate given the negotiations are at a delicate stage.”

Preparatory negotiations for the Economic Partnership Agreement between the East African Community and the EU started on November 27, 2007 with the Framework agreement upon which negotiating of the EPA would be based.

Real negotiations then started mid 2010 but four years down the road, there is no agreement.

The EAC partners have reportedly had individual issues with the draft but under the joint agreement protocol, those issues have to be owned as a block and this has delayed the process.

"SADC has signed and Ecowas has signed their EPAs with EU so we (EAC) are the last ones to but it’s also safe to say that we probably got a very good deal,” added Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed.

If this week’s meetings are successful, the negotiations of the EAC-EU EPA would finally be concluded but signing of the final agreement is not likely to meet the October 1 deadline.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Rules of Origin

The cornerstone of the EPA Right of Origin is the principle of asymmetry that reflects the differential level of development between the EAC and the EU. The negotiations on Right of Origin are guided by the following objectives:

i. Improving and increasing the market access for EAC exports into the EU market.

ii. Promoting the establishment and growth of the industrial and agricultural base of EAC partner states.

iii. Facilitating the diversification of the EAC export base.

iv. Deepening EAC regional integration through cumulation across EAC as well with Comesa and SADC countries.

v. Widen EAC partner states base for sourcing raw materials for production of goods targeting the EU market by allowing for extended cumulation that covers all ACP countries, countries that the EU has concluded an FTA with and cumulation with goods that enter the EU market at an MFN duty rate of zero per cent.

vi. Achievement of the overall Cotonou Partnership Agreement objectives: poverty eradication, equitable growth, sustainable development, strengthening of private sector, integration into global economy, increasing productivity and competitiveness of ACP products.

Source: EAC Secretariat