The East African Business Council (EABC) and the European Development Fund have agreed to work together under a facility that is aimed to strengthen the role of East African private sector in EAC-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations.

Under the partnership, a facility referred to as TradeCom Facility will enable the EABC run a programme that will improve private sector awareness of the EAC-EU EPA negotiations and also strengthen its participation in trade policy formulation.

"We welcome this cooperation as it will further strengthen our capacity to engage the private sector on EPA negotiation issues,” Mr Charles Mbogori, the Executive Director of EABC, said in a statement issued by EABC yesterday.

"The development of a health private sector in East Africa cannot be archived if we do not maximize the benefits from EPA negotiations.”
EABC is an apex body of business associations in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania,Rwanda, and Burundi with the aim of promoting private sector’s regional and global competitiveness in trade and investment.
The EU has been negotiating EPA with African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries since September 2002 with the aim of replacing non-reciprocal trade preferences granted under the Cotonou Agreement.

EPA’s are structured to introduce reciprocity to trade arrangement between EU and developing nations as per World Trade Organisation requirements.

While current EAC-EPA negotiations are supposed to be concluded by July 31,
2009, a number of outstanding issues that include rules of origin, most favoured nations clause, agriculture, trade in services, and sustainable development are yet to be concluded.

However, the Interim Framework on Economic Partnership Agreement (FEPA) signed in November 2007 by EAC and European Commission (EC) contains a clause that provides areas for future negotiations.

The EC market access offer, under FEPA, consists of duty free and quota free access to imports from the EAC Partner States except for rice and sugar for which a transitional arrangement has been put in place.

On the other hand, the EAC market access offer to the EU consists of 82 per cent liberalization of imports from the EU over a twenty five-year transition period.

According to the statement the TradeCom Facility programme looks to build on the gains made at current negotiations and also set stage for future negotiations.

The TradeCom Facility, is an African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group Programme financed by the European Development Fund. It was established to provide and coordinate trade-related technical assistance to ACP countries.

"EABC will increasingly play an instrumental role in private sector awareness, and in developing position papers and policy briefs that will feed into EPA negotiations,” Mr Mbogori said.

"The private sector cannot play a meaningful role in trade negotiations without adequate skills on the technical aspects of the negotiations.”

The programme will establish constructive public private sector dialogue that will inform government officials on the needs of the private sector.

It will also build on the successes already registered by EPA trade in services programme supported by International Lawyers and Economists Against Poverty (ILEAP).

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