EAC-US trade deal fair, says Kanimba

Negotiations leading to the Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement (Tipa) between the EAC and the United States are reasonable, the Minister of Trade and Industry has said. Francois Kanimba was reacting to Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Uganda which on Tuesday petitioned the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), which is sitting in Kampala, to take a more defined role in negotiations leading to the deal. A petition signed by 22 organisations partly decries what it terms as onerous drafting of several provision of the agreement. The petition contests Article 4, the Clause on the Most Favoured Nation (MFN), as lopsided aimed at according US investors favourable treatment. “This provision limits EAC governments’ ability to choose which countries they would like to give preferences to when it comes to trade with any third party and recommends that it should be expunged from the agreement,” reads part of the petition. However, Minister Kanimba told The New Times that the objective of Tipa is to increase Trade and Investment volumes between EAC and US. “I support the deal as Rwanda has already signed a Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement with USA since December 2011. For us, there is really nothing new. The concern people have about the Most Favored Nation Clause is more sentimental than a real risk,” Kanimba said. “What is more important for the EAC for this agreement is how Tipa will attract high volume of investment of US companies in the region to sustain high growth rates the region has been experiencing in the recent years.” CSOs are calling on EALA to monitor development and to request for updates on Tipa negotiations from the concerned ministries to ensure transparency and accountability. The CSOs, under the aegis of the Southern and Eastern African Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (Seatini), petitioned EALA Speaker Margaret Zziwa during a sitting in Kampala, Uganda, yesterday. Concerns They are concerned that the negotiations are tilted in favour of the US with the power nation negotiating on the basis of 2012 US Model Bilateral Investment Treaty. Seatini Chief Executive Nathan Irumba, maintains that the template is generally tailored to protect the US without addressing their obligations and the rights of the EAC countries. “We need a template that is acceptable to all,” Amb. Irumba said. Receiving the petition, the EALA Speaker, Zziwa reiterated there was need for a conducive environment to enable fair competition among investors of the region. The Speaker added that the Dispute Resolution Mechanisms in the Agreement presented a challenge to East Africans terming it out of reach. “We need to address it as a matter of urgency,” Zziwa said. On transfers, the petitioners state that the region stands to lose from the negative effect on balance of payments, owing to increased outflows of profits and other investment incomes. “We are further concerned that the process of negotiating the Treaty is undemocratic and haphazard’, the petition states. The US has presented the template on a ‘Take or Leave it’ premise as opposed to roundtable negotiations,” the statement adds. The petitioners, among others, call for a more participatory approach that includes all stakeholders among them: CSOs, business community, religious affiliations, academia and farmers.

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EAC-US trade deal fair, says Kanimba