ISDS Case Map
Ghana
Despite the unpreparedness of West African governments to negotiate the Economic Partnership Agreements with the European Union, there are clear indications that the EPAs will be signed by the December 31, 2007 deadline, Tetteh Hormeku, Head of Programmes at Third World Network, has said.
The Ghana Trade and Livelihoods Coalition (GTLC) has appealed to the governments of Ghana and Burkina Faso to facilitate an unconditional implementation of the protocol on the free movement of persons, goods and services within the West African sub-region.
Advocacy groups in the country have recommended to the country's negotiating team in the new trade agreement with the European Union to opt for a more liberal trade pact known as the Generalised System of Preferences plus-scheme.
Barely two weeks after the European Union proposed to remove all remaining quota and tariff limitations on access to the EU market for all African, Caribbean and Pacific regions as part of the Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations (EPAs), a group calling itself the Ghana Trade and Livelihoods Coalition has raised concerns about the ongoing negotiations that are scheduled to be concluded by December 31, 2007.
The Ghana Trade and Livelihood Coalition (GTLC), has called for mass mobilization of people in Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries to put pressure on their governments to stop the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations while urging various Parliaments not to ratify the agreement if it is signed.
Civil society groups and other stakeholders in West Africa's development process have unanimously called on the European Union to extend the deadline for reaching a deal on Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs).
Ghana and the European Union (EU) have reaffirmed their commitments to go ahead with signing Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) despite calls by the civil society for its immediate suspension.
Countries within the African region have been implored not to allow nations standards to continue to present technical barriers to the free flow of goods both within and beyond the borders of he Economic Community of West African States.
After calling off negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with five Southern African countries last month, the US has indicated its intentions to negotiate new trade arrangements with several African countries including Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique and Ghana.
Nana Akomea, Chairman of Ghana's Parliamentary Select Committee on Trade, called for regional integration between ECOWAS countries as the way forward to economic development. An Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union and ECOWAS, as provided for in the Cotonou Agreement, would only cripple Ghana's feeble agricultural sector and other local industries.
