Namibia to host SADC-EU partnership talks

AT an information workshop about Namibia and the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA’s) with the European Union (EU) that are to be negotiated soon, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Kaire Mbuende said that “…it is our hope that (the) EPA will contribute towards enhancing production, supply and trading capacity as well as improving the investment environment.”

The workshop – held at the Safari Court Hotel in Windhoek on Friday – will include the block of Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland, Angola, Mozambique and Tanzania (with South Africa as an observer) on one side, and the European Union on the other. South Africa already has its own Trade and Development Co-operation Agreement (TDCA) with the European Union.The negotiations starting in Namibia in May will take place in two stages with the first stage covering market access and rules of origin, while the second stage will be concerned with trade in services, trade-related issues, legal provisions and institutional arrangements.The head of the delegation of the European Commission (EC) in Namibia, Antonius Bruesser, said that the EU aims to carry out negotiations taking Namibia’s restrictions and capacity into account.He said that the EU would continue to open its markets to Namibian goods, encourage regional markets to open up to each other and eventually hoped to open local markets to imports from Europe.”However, there are challenges that need to be overcome if Namibia and other ACP (Africa, Caribbean, Pacific) countries are to gain from the EPA,” said Mbuende.Jurgen Hoffmann of the Agricultural Trade Forum elaborated on the three areas of greatest importance: market access, reciprocity and technical barriers to trade.Regarding market access, the Cotonou Agreement gave Namibia preferential access to the European market and this should be maintained.He added that Namibia needed extended market access for its agricultural exports to the EU to address its expanded capacity.In particular, beef and lamb export quotas should be extended while the present quota for table grapes was also inadequate, he said.Access for other agricultural commodities should also be secured through the EPA, with value-added products of the livestock sector and fresh horticultural products and processed fruit and vegetables to be given preference.However, access did not guarantee sales, so branding and quality as well as adherence to standards were all very important for Namibia.Other issues included the CAP provisions through which European farmers were paid large subsidies creating “…an unequal playing field,” he said.According to Hoffman, this “…has to be addressed in negotiations through asymmetrical opening and trade remedies.”Technical barriers to extending trade between Namibia and Europe included sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures and the EUROGAP, which stipulates good agricultural practices that all producers for the European market must adhere to.He said these needed to be addressed though technical support and capacity building in Namibia.Hoffmann said that Namibia now needed to develop positions to feed into the SADC-EPA negotiations for the agricultural and industrial sectors as well as help to create an SPS committee between the EU and SADC to address technical issues.The other SADC countries involved would be challenged to manage new trade dispensations for the benefit of the region, to promote value adding to export commodities and to develop regional markets that could compete with EU agriculture and industries, he said.South Africa already has its own Trade and Development Co-operation Agreement (TDCA) with the European Union.The negotiations starting in Namibia in May will take place in two stages with the first stage covering market access and rules of origin, while the second stage will be concerned with trade in services, trade-related issues, legal provisions and institutional arrangements.The head of the delegation of the European Commission (EC) in Namibia, Antonius Bruesser, said that the EU aims to carry out negotiations taking Namibia’s restrictions and capacity into account.He said that the EU would continue to open its markets to Namibian goods, encourage regional markets to open up to each other and eventually hoped to open local markets to imports from Europe.”However, there are challenges that need to be overcome if Namibia and other ACP (Africa, Caribbean, Pacific) countries are to gain from the EPA,” said Mbuende.Jurgen Hoffmann of the Agricultural Trade Forum elaborated on the three areas of greatest importance: market access, reciprocity and technical barriers to trade.Regarding market access, the Cotonou Agreement gave Namibia preferential access to the European market and this should be maintained.He added that Namibia needed extended market access for its agricultural exports to the EU to address its expanded capacity.In particular, beef and lamb export quotas should be extended while the present quota for table grapes was also inadequate, he said.Access for other agricultural commodities should also be secured through the EPA, with value-added products of the livestock sector and fresh horticultural products and processed fruit and vegetables to be given preference.However, access did not guarantee sales, so branding and quality as well as adherence to standards were all very important for Namibia.Other issues included the CAP provisions through which European farmers were paid large subsidies creating “…an unequal playing field,” he said.According to Hoffman, this “…has to be addressed in negotiations through asymmetrical opening and trade remedies.”Technical barriers to extending trade between Namibia and Europe included sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures and the EUROGAP, which stipulates good agricultural practices that all producers for the European market must adhere to.He said these needed to be addressed though technical support and capacity building in Namibia.Hoffmann said that Namibia now needed to develop positions to feed into the SADC-EPA negotiations for the agricultural and industrial sectors as well as help to create an SPS committee between the EU and SADC to address technical issues.The other SADC countries involved would be challenged to manage new trade dispensations for the benefit of the region, to promote value adding to export commodities and to develop regional markets that could compete with EU agriculture and industries, he said.