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The acp-eu-trade.org newsletter -- No. 34/November 2009
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In this issue:
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I. Trade Negotiations Insights Vol.8, No.9
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II. News: Highlights of the month
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III. Selection from the acp-eu-trade.org Library
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IV. Resources from Recent and on Upcoming Events
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Dear readers,
Welcome to the November issue of the acp-eu-trade.org newsletter!
Below you will find a link to the November issue of Trade Negotiations Insights, a collection of press articles published during the past month and a selection of recently added documents in the acp-eu-trade.org library. As usual, we also provide some resources on recent and upcoming events relevant to ACP-EU trade relations.
ACP-EU stakeholders are encouraged to participate in the various services provided via this website with the aim to exchange relevant information, build up trade negotiating capacity and facilitate networking activities. We therefore invite our readers to take an active role in www.acp-eu-trade.org by:
• Registering on-line as a trade and development expert to help mobilise the best expertise in ACP-EU trade and development matters and give interested parties easier access to information on relevant internationally recognized experts or consultants;
• Submitting relevant background and policy documents, news and links that will enrich the ACP-EU trade debate;
• Subscribing to this monthly newsletter as well as other partners’ to be kept informed of latest developments in the ACP-EU trade realm;
• Sharing your views on the current ACP-EU Trade debate and providing feedback on the relevance and future focus areas of www.acp-eu-trade.org
We appreciate any feedback on this newsletter and look forward to your reactions. You may send your comments to acpeutrade@ecdpm.org.
Enjoy your reading!
Editors: Fantu Mulleta (fm@ecdpm.org) and Mélissa Dalleau (md@ecdpm.org)
I. Trade Negotiations Insights Vol.8, No.9
The November 2009 issue of Trade Negotiations Insights (TNI), a joint monthly publication by ICTSD and ECDPM, is available online at: www.ictsd.org/tni/index.htm and www.acp-eu-trade.org/tni
Trade Negotiations Insights, Vol. 8, No. 9, November 2009
• From Market Access to Accessing the Market: Aid for Trade and the Program of the World Bank (Elisa Gamberoni and Richard Newfarmer)
• Editorial & News and publications In brief
• The Lisbon Treaty - Implications for Europe’s International Investment Agreements (Damon Vis-Dunbar)
• Ensuring flexibility: A survey of safeguard measures in regional and bilateral trade agreements (Willemien Denner)
• Duty-free and quota-free access to the EU market for Caribbean rice exports: a necessary but insufficient step forward (Solène Sureau)
• Monitoring regional integration in the ACP: The case for a coordinated approach (Jean-Michel Salmon)
• WTO Roundup
• EPA Negotiations Update
• Calendar and resources
Eclairage sur les Négociations, Vol. 8, No. 9, Novembre 2009
• De l'accès au marché à l'accession au marché : l'Aide pour le commerce et le programme du groupe de la Banque mondiale (Elisa Gamberoni et Richard Newfarmer)
• Éditorial et Nouvelles et publications En bref
• Le Traité de Lisbonne : conséquences pour les Accords internationaux d’investissement de l’Europe (Damon Vis-Dunbar)
• Garantir la flexibilité : étude des mesures de sauvegarde dans les accords commerciaux régionaux et bilatéraux (Willemien Denner)
• L’accès en franchise de droits et de quotas sur le marché de l’UE pour les exportations caribéennes de riz : une avancée nécessaire, bien qu’insuffisante (Solène Sureau)
• Suivi de l’intégration régionale dans les ACP : la nécessité d’une approche coordonnée (Jean Michel Salmon)
• Aperçu sur l’OMC
• Le point sur les négociations APE
• Calendrier et publications
** All-ACP **
* EXCLUSIVE-Banana deal emerging - trade sources
Jonathan Lynn, Forbes.com, 2 November 2009
The deal -- which could be reached before the WTO's ministerial conference starting Nov. 30 -- would see the European Union cutting tariffs on bananas for suppliers in Latin America and elsewhere. […] In return the Latin Americans would drop outstanding challenges to the EU at the WTO, and Brussels would provide compensation to African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries -- mainly former British, French and Portuguese colonies -- who would lose their preferential access to the European market. The detailed terms are likely to resemble an agreement almost reached in July last year on the fringes of a meeting of trade ministers seeking a breakthrough on the Doha talks.
-> See also Baroness Ashton attacked over proposed 'banana wars' deal, Heather Stewart, Guardian UK, 22 November 2009 or Bananas deal likely to be too late for WTO talks, source AFP, 25 November 2009
-> Regarding the position of ACP countries, see the ACP group communiqué on Bananas
* Ghanaian Ibn Chambas appointed Sec Gen of ACP Group
Afriquejet-Afrique en ligne, 17 November 2009
The Chairman of the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Mohamed Ibn Chambas, has been appointed Secretary General of the Group of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (ACP), official sources in Brussels, the Belgian capital, told PANA here on Tuesday. […] The first task of the new Secretary General of the ACP Group, who takes over from Sir John Kaputin of Papau New Guinea (Pacific), will be to clear the negotiations for the conclusion of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) by the six regions of the group with the European Union.
-> Dr. Ibn Chambas’s acceptance speech is available online.
* Energising the ACP countries
European Commission, Press Release, 30 October 2009
After the successful implementation of the first phase of the ACP-EU Energy Facility, the European Union and the ACP Group of States agreed to earmark € 200 million for a new phase under the 10th European Development Fund (2009-2013). The new Energy Facility will focus on improving access to sustainable energy services in rural and peri-urban areas while fighting against climate change by encouraging the use of renewable energy sources, such as solar systems, wind farms, hydro projects, biomass (biofuels and biogas) and geothermal systems as well as promoting energy efficiency measures in public and private buildings, for example the replacement of energy-consuming light bulbs with more efficient ones.
* Climate change top ACP-EU discussions
ACP Press release, 4 November 2009
The African, Caribbean and Pacific Group (ACP) Committee of Ambassadors has expressed concerns to the European Union on the threats of climate change to the ACP countries, and urged the Europeans to help them combat the threats.
The ACP Committee of Ambassadors was given the opportunity to raise their concerns to Swedish Ambassador, H.E Mr. Christian Danielsson, and the Director General for Development of the European Commission, Mr. Stefano Manservisi, in a meeting at the ACP House. Sweden holds the presidency of the EU at present.
Besides, climate change, both parties also exchanged views on the recently ratified Lisbon Treaty and its effects on the ACP-EU relations and the global financial and economic crisis.
** Caribbean **
* No agreement on EPA coordinator
BBC Caribbean News in Brief, 17 November 2009
Caricom and the Dominican Republic are yet to resolve their differences over the setting up of a coordination mechanism for the Economic Partnership Agreement between the regional grouping and the European Union. […] The Caribbean had hoped to have in place by now, a six-member agency for coordinating and implementing the partnership agreement. But they haven't been able to decide whether the coordinator should come from the Dominican Republic or Caricom. Secretary General Edwin Cariington says they are hoping to have the matter resolved by year-end.
* CARICOM formally introduces new OTN director
Caricom Secretariat, Press Release, 16 November 2009
The new Director-General of the Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM) Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN), Her Excellency Gail Mathurin was formally introduced to the Region on Monday 16 November, 2009.
Ambassador Mathurin’s appointment as Director-General of the OTN came as the result of a decision taken by the CARICOM Heads of Government at its 30th Regular Meeting in Georgetown, Guyana. In March 2009, the Heads of Government had agreed to incorporate the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM) into the CARICOM Secretariat as a Specialised Department and agreed to rename the CRNM, the OTN at their July 2009 Summit.
Secretary-General Carrington noted that the OTN was “committed to the fullest consultations with Member States” in the preparation of regional positions of trade negotiations with third states.
Ambassador Mathurin’s stated that the OTN has also prioritised, as part of its external trade agenda for the Region, an advocacy for the completion of the DOHA Round of Negotiations.
In addition, she said that her office was working closely with the Implementation Unit of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), to ensure that arrangements were in place for the execution of the EPA, which CARICOM signed with the European Community (EC) in October 2008.
* Bahamas’ EPA offer accepted
Candia Dames, Nassau Guardian, bilaterals.org, 9 November 2009
More than one year after The Bahamas signed onto the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), the European Commission has accepted this country’s services offer, according to Minister of State for Finance Zhivargo Laing.
"It’s important to the extent that it now confirms for us that we will be able to annex our offer to the completed agreement and it means that we have been able to preserve the essence of our National Investment Policy to the satisfaction of the Bahamian public and also to the satisfaction of our European partners," said Laing in an interview with The Nassau Guardian.
"I think it now means that we can move on, begin with the implementation of the Economic Partnership Agreement and to give Bahamians an opportunity that that agreement provides and also to put behind us any concerns relating to losing any benefits that we now have under that arrangement."
* Jamaica too slow to pick up EU grants
Byron Buckley, The Jamaica Gleaner, 26 November 2009
A British government minister has expressed concern that Jamaica and other members of the CARIFORUM group have been slow in accessing millions of dollars in grant funding from the European Union, to be used to modernise their industries to do business with their stronger counterparts in the European Union.
In order to assist Jamaica in preparing to take advantage of the EPA, the EU has provided J$1.5 billion to Jamaica and more to the rest of the region.
"The concern that I have is that the implementation process is progressing very slowly and we do need to see more coordination and coherence directed, of course, by CARIFORUM, in order to ensure that things can move ahead," Glenys Kinnock, minister of state for Africa and the United Nations, told The Gleaner this week.
** West Africa **
* Talks on the EU-West Africa Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), 23-24 October 2009
EPA Flash News, DG Trade, European Commission, 27 October 2009
The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the EU and the West African region was discussed at a meeting between negotiators from the two regions in Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire) on 23-24 October 2009. Talks focussed on the West African market access offer. Representatives from the region presented a revised offer, after extensive consultations within West Africa itself. Both sides remain committed to further negotiations, to come to an offer that reflects the development needs of the region and have agreed that next round of negotiations at technical level will take place in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, from 10 to 12 November followed by a meeting of Senior Officials on 13 November.
-> See also : Négociation commerciale/APE. L’accord régional en préparation à Abidjan, Honoré Kouassi, L’Intelligent D’Abidjan, 16 November 2009
* Nécessité d’une mise à niveau des entreprises- Mise en œuvre de l’Accord de Partenariat économique au Bénin
Ebeninois, 11 November 2009
La signature de l’Accord de Partenariat économique (APE) va générer des conséquences fâcheuses pour l’économie béninoise qui a besoin d’une mise à niveau pour supporter les coups de la création d’une zone de libre échange entre l’Union européenne et la région Afrique de l’Ouest.
* Nigeria cautious on EU free trade deal
Eubusiness (source AFP), 18 November 2009
Nigeria, sub-Saharan Africa's second largest economy, will not sign free trade deals with the European Union until it is sure it can comfortably compete, a minister said on Wednesday.
"Nigeria has not signed the EPA," Commerce and Industry Minister Achike Udenwa told AFP adding that "there are still negotiations going on". […] "The EPA is all about market access and we are saying that market access should be linked with the development issue," he said in an interview.
"We have to make sure our own industrial infrastructure is up to date, that it can support competition so that our products can compete with those of the developing world.
"We cannot open up our markets when our own industries are disadvantaged," he said.
* Nigeria signs € 677 million European Development Fund agreement to support governance, trade and peace actions
EU press release, 19 November 2009
The European Commission has today signed a multi-million euro agreement that aims to help Nigeria tackle development challenges in the areas of governance, trade and peace. The agreement […] reinforces cooperation in three strategic areas: peace and security; governance and human rights; trade and regional integration with €677 million for the period 2009 – 2013 financed through the European Development Fund. [...] […] 105 million (16%) will be used, inter alia, to support trade and regional integration, the EPA development programme and improvement of competitiveness in the private sector, and energy security.
* Accord intérimaire UE-Côte d`Ivoire - 400 milliards de marchandises exportés vers l’UE.
F. Toti, Le Temps, Connection Ivoirienne, 13 November 2009
[...] jeudi 12 novembre, le Directeur de cabinet du ministre de l’Intégration africaine, Traoré Khalilou et Peter Thomson, directeur du commerce de la commission de l’UE étaient face à la presse pour situer les enjeux des négociations de ce jour. Selon Traoré Khalilou, l’accord intérimaire a permis à la Côte d’Ivoire d’exporter 400 milliards de Fcfa de marchandises vers l’UE . Pour lui, si l’Ape intérimaire n’avait pas été signé, plusieurs entreprises ivoiriennes allaient connaître de véritables difficultés. Pour Peter Thomson, le nouvel accord régional qui va être signé va permettre la bonne circulation des marchandises entre la sous-région et l’UE.
** ESA **
* EAC warned on EPAs
Joseph Olanyo, East African Business Week, 15 November 2009
East African Community (EAC) states should not sign the interim Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) until pending issues are resolved, a trade analyst has said.
Ms Jane Nalunga, the Country Director, Southern and Eastern African Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI), cites the standstill clause in the agreements, which states that tariffs should remain as they are and the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) treatment, a reciprocal privilege awarded by one nation to another in international trade, as some of the issues EAC states should resolve before signing the agreement. All interim EPA agreement shave a standstill clause, disallowing new customs duties to be applied or existing ones to be raised after entry into force of the agreement. The clause is said to be restrictive compared to the European Union's (EU's) deal and could prevent African countries from industrialising and increasing their domestic agricultural production.
-> See also East Africa: Trade in Services Holds Back EPA's Deal, David Mugabe, The New Vision, 18 November 2009
* Civil Society Organisations ask ESA govts to demand EPA negotiations suspension
Kabanda Chulu, The Post, 11 November 2009
Civil Society Organisations have asked governments of the Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) to demand a 10-year suspension of EPA negotiations to assess its negative impacts in light of the emerging global challenges on various economic sectors.
The Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) met over the weekend in Lusaka and issued a communiqué, stating that the current global food, energy, financial, economic and climate change crises and their impact on African economies had clearly demonstrated that governments needed policy space and instruments to implement interventions to mitigate the impact of these crises.
* Arusha meeting key to breaking deadlock over EPAs trade deal
George Omondi, Business Daily, 27 November 2009
Representatives of East Africa Community governments and the private sector hope to use a two-day meeting that starts in Arusha on Friday to break the deadlock with the European Commission (EC) over Economic Partnership Agreement (EPAs) negotiations. […]
The East African Business Council (EABC), a private sector business lobby, and the TradeCom Facility, a programme funded by the European Development Fund to provide technical assistance to the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group, have arranged the discussion. […] ACP states have particularly been passionate about the development component of the deal, saying EU countries must undertake to compensate them for the loss of revenue and interruptions of industrial activities that is expected to result from opening up their borders to free trade. […] EU head of delegation in Nairobi Eric van Der Linden says EC has done its part and that it is up to the ACP states to come up with a common position when the interim instrument expires on December 3.
* Comesa Countries Get U.S.$946 Million for Trade
David Muwanga, Allafrica, 15 November 2009
The European Union is giving a total of 653 million Euros to the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) member countries to finance projects that will help them to develop capacity in trade with other countries.
The funds are to benefit companies investing in warehouse receipt systems, road construction, agriculture improvement projects and government departments among other things. It is aimed at developing the least developed countries' capacity to trade.
* East Africa: At Last, Common Market Becomes Reality
Catherine Riungu, Allafrica, 23 November 2009
The East African Community officially ushered in a common market on Friday amid renewed commitment by the region's Heads of State to expedite the envisaged political federation by 2015.
** SADC **
* EU’s Trade Stance ’Very Regrettable’, Says Pohamba – Namibia
Jo-Maré Duddy, The Namibian, Bilaterals.org, 5 November 2009
President Hifikepunye Pohamba has likened the European Union’s trade negotiations with Namibia to the days of apartheid, saying the powerhouse is refusing to treat the country as an equal and listen to its concerns about the controversial economic partnership agreement (EPA).
Speaking to the media after talks with his South African counterpart Jacob Zuma on Tuesday, Pohamba said: "Meetings have been held and we put our views across to them. In the normal way they should listen to our problems. They seem not to be listening to us and this is very regrettable." […]
Zuma’s office yesterday issued a joint communiqué on the RSA-Namibia Heads of State Economic Bilateral Meeting, saying: "The two Heads of State reflected on the interim Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union and reiterated their position regarding the implications of this agreement on the SADC regional integration. Both Heads of State agreed to work together to further engage the EU on this matter."
* European Investment Bank provides EUR 82 million for Namibia’s only cement factory
EU press release, 16 November 2009
The European Investment Bank (EIB) today agreed to provide EUR 82 million for the construction and operation of the Ohorongo cement factory located 435km north of Namibia’s capital Windhoek. This will be Namibia’s only operating cement production plant. It will help to supply both the domestic market as well as demand in Botswana, Zambia and post civil-war Angola. […]
The new cement plant will make a significant contribution to reducing poverty and sustainable economic development in northern Namibia.
** Central Africa **
* CEMAC : Le commerce interne représente moins d'1% du PIB
Gaboneco (source xinhua), 18 November 2009
L'absence d'un programme économique régional structurant et les difficultés à mettre sur pied une intégration économique régionale efficiente constituent un frein important au développement du commerce interne dans la Communauté économique et monétaire d'Afrique centrale (CEMAC).
Réunis à Douala, au Cameroun, en fin de semaine dernière, les experts de la sous région ont déploré un taux de commerce interne représentant entre 0,5 et 1% du PIB des pays membres.
-> Voir à ce sujet, le rapport du bureau sous-régional de la Commission économique des Nations Unies pour l'Afrique sur l’«État d'avancement du processus d'intégration en Afrique centrale – Prospectus 2009»
** Pacific **
* FACT supports Cocoa Industry
Solomon Star, 3 November 2009
The European Union-funded Facilitating Agricultural Commodity Trade (FACT) project has engaged with a local cocoa exporting company based in Honiara to support communities and provide an alternative source of livelihood. […] By engaging with this company, the project aims to improve the entire cocoa supply chain in order to benefit the industry as a whole.
-> See Also: FACT Organises ICT/food Safety Awareness Training in Solomon Islands, Solomon Times Online, 11 November, 2009
* Private Sector Calls for More Intra-Regional Trade
Pacnews, 30 October 2009
Private sector representatives participating at the recent Pacific Island Countries Trade Agreement (PICTA) Symposium and the Pasifiki Trade Fair in Nuku’alofa, Tonga supported calls for stronger networks and a better business environment to advance domestic trading and intra-regional trading under PICTA.
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III. Selection from the acp-eu-trade.org Library
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* Updating EPAs to Today's Global Challenges: Essays on the Future of EPAs
Jones, E. and Martí, D.(ed), GMF Economic Policy Paper Series 09, November 2009
Sub-Saharan Africa has been hit hard: first by the food crisis, more recently by the financial and economic crises, and at the same time grappling with the challenges of adapting to climate change. In this fast evolving context, African countries continue to negotiate the challenging Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the European Union (EU). These new agreements have the potential to help African countries accelerate their economic growth and develop more resilient economies. However, the presence of negotiating deadlocks or a sense of fatigue as well as the lack of a real appetite for these agreements among many African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) negotiators, raise legitimate questions regarding their structure and content, as well as their ability to constitute instruments to leverage economic growth. In fact, just as the crisis has highlighted the vulnerability of African economies, it also provides an opportunity to reflect on the EPA’s function as a true development partnership.
* Council Decision on a Community Position concerning participation in the CARIFORUM-EC Consultative Committee and selection of the representatives of organisations located in the EC Party
Decision of Council of the European Union, 14872/09, Brussels, 10 November 2009
* Council Decision on the procedure concerning derogations from the rules of origin set out in the Origin Protocols annexed to Economic Partnership Agreements with ACP States, and repealing Decision 2000/399/EC
Council of the European Union, Brussels, 12 October 2009, Interinstitutional File:2009/0092 (ACC), Brussels
The Community position with regard to a request presented by ACP States signatory to Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) for derogation from the rules of origin laid down in the Origin Protocols to EPAs shall be adopted by the Commission in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 2. (also available in French)
* Fifth report on potentially trade restrictive measures in the context of the global economic crisis
European Commission Report for the 133 Committee, November 2009
This fifth monitoring report takes stock of the potentially trade restrictive measures introduced between October 2008 and October 2009 by the European Union's (EU) major trade partners and looks at them in a more analytical way. It brings together and builds on elements elaborated and analysed in the previous versions of this report, with a view to provide, as much as possible, a comprehensive picture of trade restrictive trends from the EU's perspective since the beginning of the economic crisis.
* Report on Negotiation of the Economic Partnership Agreements between West Africa and the European Community
Report on the Technical level EPA negotiations held in Brussels, 21-24 September 2009
Delegations of West-Africa and the European Community met from 21-24 September to discuss and negotiate outstanding provisions of the Economic Partnership Agreement in order to finalise a regional Agreement by the end of October, focussing on goods, cooperation for the implementation of the development dimension and the realisation of the objectives of the EPA, institutional arrangements, dispute settlement; with a rendez-vous clause on services and other trade-related issues. Meetings took place in a good atmosphere and some progress was made. However, the parties remain divided on a number of important issues, including the market access offer by West-Africa (also available in French).
* The CAP reform and its implication for ACP-EU agricultural trade
Agritrade Executive brief, CTA, 2009
This executive brief reviews the scope of the CAP: its basic structure, product coverage, objectives and evolution since 1992. The section on the impact of CAP reform on ACP-EU agricultural trade focuses on:
- the impact of CAP reform on the value of traditional ACP trade preferences;
- the need for ACP exporters to respond proactively to changes within EU markets for food and agricultural products;
- the importance for ACP authorities and private-sector operators of getting to grips with the food-safety challenge and the increasing costs of accessing the EU market;
- the trends in EU exports of agricultural and simple value-added food products to ACP markets;
- the importance of developing an effective policy response to the competitive challenges this poses and the necessity for this to encompass a value-chain analysis if it is to support the development of local value-added agricultural and food-product production in ACP countries.
* A Common Agricultural Policy for European Public Goods
Declaration by a Group of Leading Agricultural Economists in favor of ‘A Common Agricultural Policy for European Public Goods’. They propose the abolition of market intervention and blanket income support to farmers. Instead, subsidies should be targeted at the provision of public goods of European interest.
You can can join the Declaration, invite your friends and colleagues to sign it, create a link on your web page, and write about it on the Internet or in newspapers.
* Africa’s Infrastructure: A Time for Transformation
Edited by Vivien Foster and Cecilia Briceño-Garmendia, AFD-World Bank
This study is part of the Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic (AICD), a project designed to expand the world’s knowledge of physical infrastructure in Africa. The AICD will provide a baseline against which future improvements in infrastructure services can be measured, making possible monitoring of results achieved from donor support. It should also provide a more solid empirical foundation for prioritizing investments and designing policy reforms in the infrastructure sectors
in Africa.
* Etude Comparative des Accords de Libre Echange impliquant les PED ou PMA
Alpha A., Rolland J.P, Lagandré. D.; Etude GRET-AFD, Rapport d'octobre 2009
Dans le cadre des négociations APE, l’objectif de l’étude est de contribuer à alimenter la réflexion française sur les diverses interprétations de l’article XXIV en analysant des exemples d’ALE en vigueur et n’ayant pas fait l’objet de plaintes à l’OMC.
La France considère en effet que les APE sont avant tout des instruments au service du développement des pays ACP. Elle milite dans cette optique pour l’utilisation de la plus grande flexibilité possible, tant concernant le rythme de la libéralisation, que le champ de l’ouverture des marchés des pays ACP, en exploitant au maximum l’asymétrie permise par la CE, tout en restant dans les limites compatibles avec les règles de l’OMC.
Il s’agit donc d’identifier ces précédents pour mettre en exergue des exemples de dispositions permettant de la flexibilité sur chacun des points de discussion entre les régions ACP et l’UE dans les négociations APE.
Cette étude vise ainsi à contribuer à la réflexion française en matière d’APE, en analysant des exemples existants d’accords de libre échange notifiés à l’OMC impliquant soit des PED entre eux, soit des PED et des pays développés.
* Opening Markets for Poor Countries: Are We There Yet?
Kimberly Ann Elliott, Center for Global Development, Working Paper 184, Reviewed October 2009
Despite six decades of trade liberalization, trade policies in rich countries still discriminate against the exports of the world’s poorest countries. Preferential market access programs were designed to spur larger and more diversified exports from developing countries, but product exclusions and burdensome rules undermined their usefulness, especially for the poorer countries. Most rich countries have made reforms since the UN Millennium Declaration in 2000 called for duty-free, quota-free market access for the least-developed countries. After the World Trade Organization ministerial communiqué called upon developing countries “in a position to do so” to also provide such access, key countries have moved toward that goal. But much remains to be done to achieve the goal of meaningful market access for the poorest countries, including reformed rules of origin that facilitate rather than inhibit trade.
* Endowments, Power and Democracy: Political Economy of Multilateral Commitments on Trade in Services
Martin Roy, WTO Staff Working Paper - September 2009
This paper draws from different approaches within the field of international political economy to try to explain why governments undertook different levels of market access commitments under the WTO's General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). The argument, which is supported by empirical analysis, suggests that democracy, relative power, relative endowments, and the WTO accessions process have a significant impact on multilateral commitments on trade in services.
* Does the Trading System have a Future ?
Martin Wolf, Policy Essays, No 1, ECIPE, September 2009
There is a great deal of ruin in the trading system. Yet, in many respects it has been a huge success. The opening of the world economy of the past three decades and the creation of the WTO itself are both aspects of this great success. The question, however, is where we go from here, at a time when the Doha round seems impossible to complete, preferential trade arrangements are exploding, the WTO is subject to constant political attack and protectionist pressures are rising, particularly in high-income countries. These difficulties are not new. Things looked even worse in the mid-1970s and, again, in the mid-1980s. Nevertheless, it is important to renew institutions and reinvigorate the move towards liberal trade that has brought such great opportunity to the world. The essence of the recommendations of Martin Wolf can be brought down to four points: stress the value of unilateral liberalisation; discipline PTAs, ideally by creating just one PTA available to all; refocus the WTO, by reconsidering the idea of a single undertaking and by moving away from huge rounds; and, finally, focus on the sorts of domestic reforms that will allow societies to remain open to the world.
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IV. Resources from Recent and on Upcoming Events
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* 4th Regional Meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly: West Africa
28-30 October 2009, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
-> Agenda and Speeches
-> Final Communiqué
* Meeting of the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Task Force
9 November 20009, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
-> More information
* ACP Senior Trade Officials Meeting
11 November 2009, Brussels, Belgium
-> Speech by ACP Secretary-General
* CTA-ECDPM-GTZ-NTF-SACAU workshop on 'Aid for Trade Strategies and Agriculture: Trade Strategies: Towards a SADC agenda'
9-11 November 2009, Windhoek, Namibia,
-> Agenda, Relevant Background Material and Presentations
* 4th annual African Economic Conference
11-13 November 2009, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
-> Concept Note, Speeches and Presentations
* 16th EU-ECOWAS Ministerial Troika Meeting
11 November 2009, Abuja, Nigeria
-> Communiqué
* 90th session of the ACP Council of Ministers
16-19 November, Bruxelles, Belgium
-> Communiqué on the new adoption of the ACP Fisheries Mechanism
* 11th Summit of the East African Community
20 November, Arusha, Tanzania
-> Press Release (19th Ordinary Meeting held in preparation of the 11th Summit of the EAC)
-> Communiqué
* 7th session of the WTO Ministerial Conference
30 November- 2 December 2009, Geneva, Switzerland.
-> Official Website
* 18th Session of the ACP – EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly
30 November – 3 December 2009, Luanda, Angola
-> Agenda and Meeting documents
-> Table of side events
* UN conference on South- South Cooperation
1-3 December 2009, Nairobi, Kenya
-> Press release
* Conference (AERC) on Rethinking African Economic Policy in Light of the Global Economic and Financial Crisis
6-8 December 2009, Nairobi, Kenya
-> Background Information and Call for papers
* 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 15) on Climate Change
7-18 December 2009, Copenhagen, Denmark
-> See the official website
* Africa Finance and Investment Forum - Partnerships for Growth & Development
13-15 December 2009, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
-> Programme