ISDS Case Map
EPAs
Economic Partnership Agreements between the EU and ACP countries (under the Cotonou Agreement)
“On the international stage, ACP-EU Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations have reached a stalemate in all regions except for the Caribbean,” said the Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat
The agreement provides for the elimination of tariffs and more flexible rules of origin for various food products from Fiji and PNG, such as fish. But the European Parliament has asked the Commission to suspend the exceptions to the rules of origin if this year proves to have "a disruptive impact" on European industry.
Ghana will go ahead and sign an Interim Economic Partnership Agreement (IEPA) with the European Union this year following the lack of progress at the ECOWAS level.
Les relations entre l’Afrique et l’Union européenne restent toujours difficiles, la conclusion des Accords de partenariat économique, initialement prévue au plus tard en décembre 2007 faisant toujours face à des résistances, alors que le volume des échanges entre ces deux entités est en constante baisse et la confiance à son « plus bas » niveau, selon des experts.
The government has thrown its weight behind the South African sugar industry’s demand for preferential access to European markets. If granted, this would put SA on an equal sugar-trade footing with other sugar producing developing economies — the African-Pacific-Caribbean countries and the world’s least developed countries — for the first time since the industry lost its access under apartheid.
Caribbean companies will have access to European programs designed to support innovation among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), according to a CARICOM trade specialist, who yesterday urged that Bahamian businesses should look to offer products or services "with a unique advantage that people are willing to pay a premium price for".
Stakeholders from the financial services, legal and accountancy professions yesterday expressed concern about a lack of access to information on how the Bahamian private sector can take advantage of opportunities arising from the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Europe.
A CARICOM trade specialist warned yesterday that the revenue losses the Bahamas will suffer from signing on to the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Europe will be little compared to the "much more significant impact" that will be felt from new free trade deals with the US and Canada.
SADC states and the European Union have missed the year-end deadline for the completion and signing of a full Economic Partnership Agreement, a target set in June and designed to bring finality to the complex process.
Kenya Human Rights Commission has called on the government to discontinue Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) negotiations with the European Union arguing that if signed would deepen dependency on Europe.
