ISDS Case Map
Uganda
Access to the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) will ease after opening of a trade centre in Kampala. Comesatradehub, an international export promotion company, will enable companies market and sell their products internationally.
Civil society organisations and the parliamentarians last week clashed with the trade ministry officials over the signing of an interim Economic Partnership Agreement (EPAs) with the European Union.
Parliamentarians are pressurising Uganda to revoke the interim trade agreement signed between the European Union and the East African Community.
As the recently initialled interim Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) continues to take centre stage, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Africa have vowed to step up their stop-EPA campaign saying the pact has contentious issues.
The East African Community (EAC) in November 2007 signed interim agreements with the European Union (EU) after the December 31 expiry of the Cotonou arrangement that gave preferential treatment to Africa, Caribbean and Pacific countries accessing the EU market. Peter Kaujju, spoke to Chungu Mwila, the director for investment promotion and private sector development at the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
The government is to involve labour unions in all future Economic Partnership Agreement (EPAs) negotiations with the European Union.
A group of civil society representatives in Uganda have warned the government against signing an Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union arguing that it will stifle the growth of local industries and frustrate the effort of local farmers.
There is an old saying: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for life". Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) are the equivalent of Europe telling the African fisherman that if he does not give them his fishing net (tariff flexibility) he will not be able to sell any more fish to them (fish exports). In return for the fishing net, Europe promises a European fish (aid) that the fisherman has to apply for and wait for over two years.
The pending economic partnership agreement (EPA) between the European Union and developing countries will further exploit Ugandan coffee producers
