Dar es Salaam. East Africa and the European Union (EU) have finally agreed on the much-debated Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), paving the way for opening up of the regional market to European goods. Negotiators representing members of the East African Community and the EU sealed the deal on Wednesday.
It will now be subject to legal revision before being presented for signature and ratification. The exact terms have not been announced but East African countries have committed to liberalising up to 82.6 per cent of imports from the EU by value.
Beyond dropping customs duties, the agreement covers free movement of goods, cooperation on customs and taxation and trade defence instruments, which mirror the efforts of the EAC to strengthen its customs union and set up an effective internal market.
“The agreement covers goods and development co-operation and includes rendezvous clauses for services and rules chapters,” says a statement to the media. “The agreement also has an extensive chapter on fisheries, mainly aiming to reinforce co-operation on the sustainable use of resources.”
More than half of the imports the EAC has agreed to liberalise are currently duty-free under the EAC Customs Union. Those subject to duty will be liberalised over a period of 25 years, with most of the cuts within 15 years.
Though no details have been released, the statement says the deal is balanced and has what it takes to foster development. It adds that the deal is also fully in line with the EAC Common External Tariff and supports the EAC’s ambitious regional integration project.
Pending ratification of the agreement, the EU will start the procedure to re-instate Kenya in Annex I to the Market Access Regulation so that exports from that country can benefit again from duty-free and quota-free access to the European market.
The agreement will provide legal certainty for businesses and open a long-term perspective for free and unlimited access to the EU market for products from Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.
“The East African Community region stands out for its dynamism and ambition to develop as an integrated region,” said EU Commissioner of Trade Karel de Gucht. “The comprehensive partnership agreement we have just reached is the best way in which we can support EAC’s aspirations.”
According to De Gucht, the EU has so far concluded two other development-oriented partnerships with African regions this year. “It’s a source of my personal satisfaction also to see East Africa benefiting from the opportunities that Europe wants to offer,” he added. “I hope these EPAs will be signed and implemented soon.”
Three economics lecturers at the University of Dar es Salaam declined to comment until they saw the details of the agreements but EU officials say the comprehensive EPA lays new and stable ground for EU-EAC trade relations and EAC countries will now be able to focus on improving their economic performance without worrying about the potential loss of full duty- and quota-free access to the European market due to their improving status.
All EAC members, least developed and more advanced, will benefit from the same predictable and uniform trade scheme. As EAC customs union tariffs on imports are already low, absorbing the EPA is feasible. Moreover, when the EAC countries are ready to grant more far-reaching concessions to Europe’s main competitors, the EU will be able to claim those same improvements. The EU and EAC have also reached a balanced outcome on export taxes.
CREDIT: THE CITIZEN
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