EU urged to modify trade deal

NAIROBI – A proposed EU free-trade pact with east and southern African nations would slow economic growth and boost already devastating poverty, and must be changed, a coalition of advocacy groups said on Tuesday.

On the eve of negotiations between the European Commission and 16 African nations in the Kenyan port of Mombasa, the three groups urged the EU to revise an Economic Partnership Agreement hoped to come into force at the end of 2007. They said the EU must end its insistence on unrestricted reciprocal market access for African and European nations because the removal of all African tariffs would destroy the continent’s industry.At a meeting in Nairobi ahead of the opening of the talks in Mombasa, Oxfam, ACORD and EcoNews Africa also said continued EU farm subsidies would further hurt African agriculture.John Ochola of EcoNews Africa said the European Commission, which is leading negotiations on behalf of the European Union, must promote African development by dealing with the two issues.He complained that the proposed agreement would hurt Africa’s agricultural sector unless the EU removed subsidies that are in place for its own farmers.”European farmers are heavily subsidised,” Ochola said.”They could sell their products in African markets very cheaply and displace local farmers.”But in separate comments to AFP, lead EU negotiator Peter Thompson maintained that the bloc is committed to helping African economies.He said the EU has increased its economic development fund from US$16,6 to US$28,8 billion and that further talks could create new markets for African economies.”We would like to see barriers break down so there is a general free movement of goods and an attractive climate for investment in (Africa’s) private sector,” Thompson told AFP.”We are hopefully building a new model of economic partnership.”The talks which began yesterday in Mombasa are a result of the Cotonou Agreement, a treaty signed in 2000 between Europe and the 77-member Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) coalition of mainly developing nations.The pact seeks to integrate developing countries into the world economy as the troubled so-called “Doha round” of trade negotiations at the World Trade Organisation continues to falter.With the WTO talks in uncertainty, some developed nations, particularly in Europe and North America, have begun shifting their focus to bilateral or limited multilateral trade agreements.Nampa-AFPThey said the EU must end its insistence on unrestricted reciprocal market access for African and European nations because the removal of all African tariffs would destroy the continent’s industry.At a meeting in Nairobi ahead of the opening of the talks in Mombasa, Oxfam, ACORD and EcoNews Africa also said continued EU farm subsidies would further hurt African agriculture.John Ochola of EcoNews Africa said the European Commission, which is leading negotiations on behalf of the European Union, must promote African development by dealing with the two issues.He complained that the proposed agreement would hurt Africa’s agricultural sector unless the EU removed subsidies that are in place for its own farmers.”European farmers are heavily subsidised,” Ochola said.”They could sell their products in African markets very cheaply and displace local farmers.”But in separate comments to AFP, lead EU negotiator Peter Thompson maintained that the bloc is committed to helping African economies.He said the EU has increased its economic development fund from US$16,6 to US$28,8 billion and that further talks could create new markets for African economies.”We would like to see barriers break down so there is a general free movement of goods and an attractive climate for investment in (Africa’s) private sector,” Thompson told AFP.”We are hopefully building a new model of economic partnership.”The talks which began yesterday in Mombasa are a result of the Cotonou Agreement, a treaty signed in 2000 between Europe and the 77-member Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) coalition of mainly developing nations.The pact seeks to integrate developing countries into the world economy as the troubled so-called “Doha round” of trade negotiations at the World Trade Organisation continues to falter.With the WTO talks in uncertainty, some developed nations, particularly in Europe and North America, have begun shifting their focus to bilateral or limited multilateral trade agreements.Nampa-AFP