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Africa to lose out: trade expert

Africa to lose out: trade expert

THE looming deadline for the signing of a new trade agreement between the European Union and developing countries by December this year is just four months away, but it is doubtful if the new deal would benefit them more than the existing one, a local trade expert said yesterday.

Speaking at a seminar organised by the Hanns Seidl Foundation, Wallie Roux said it remained to be seen whether the trade conditions offered by the EU were “assistance or insistence”. The existing Cotonou agreement with countries from Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) was in place since 2000 but was not compliant with the rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).For this reason new Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) had to be negotiated between Europe and the ACP countries.What was offered by the EU in a new initiative a few weeks ago was a completely new trade offer, he outlined.”The ACP countries should think it through thoroughly and be given time to do so before signing on the dotted line on 31 December,” Roux said.The trade expert was speaking in his private capacity.Roux was suspended from Meatco on May 9 for critical views he expressed about the EU trade negotiations at the launch of a publication a few days earlier.His disciplinary case is still pending.”The recent trade negotiations between countries of southern Africa and the EU held at Walvis Bay ended in a stalemate.The next talks are set for mid-September in Brussels.Will it be possible to conclude the complicated trade negotiations in time?” he asked.In his view the existing Cotonou Agreement was in fact an economic partnership agreement.Should the new talks culminate in a signing of a new agreement, it would disadvantage southern African countries, he feels.The existing Cotonou agreement with countries from Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) was in place since 2000 but was not compliant with the rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).For this reason new Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) had to be negotiated between Europe and the ACP countries.What was offered by the EU in a new initiative a few weeks ago was a completely new trade offer, he outlined.”The ACP countries should think it through thoroughly and be given time to do so before signing on the dotted line on 31 December,” Roux said.The trade expert was speaking in his private capacity.Roux was suspended from Meatco on May 9 for critical views he expressed about the EU trade negotiations at the launch of a publication a few days earlier.His disciplinary case is still pending.”The recent trade negotiations between countries of southern Africa and the EU held at Walvis Bay ended in a stalemate.The next talks are set for mid-September in Brussels.Will it be possible to conclude the complicated trade negotiations in time?” he asked.In his view the existing Cotonou Agreement was in fact an economic partnership agreement.Should the new talks culminate in a signing of a new agreement, it would disadvantage southern African countries, he feels.

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