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EU Trade Commissioner lays out 2010-11 work programme
The European Union Trade Commissioner, Karel De Gucht, sketched out his work programme for the next year and a half to the European Parliament’s International Trade Committee on 5 May 2010. Multilateral trade liberalisation and rule-making will remain Europe’s priority, as the European Commission pursues an ambitious bilateral agenda with a particular focus on countries with strong growth potential, said De Gucht. The most immediate challenge will be to establish a new General System of Preferences (GSP) scheme, for which the Commission will submit a proposal in early 2011. Regarding Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), the Commission hopes to conclude negotiations with West Africa and the Eastern African Community this year. The Commission is also considering how to exert its authority over international investment policy. The Commission is expected develop a comprehensive approach to international investment policies in the coming weeks, including a strategy for Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs). De Gucht said he wants to allow individual Member States to maintain BITs with third countries “for a transitory period”, but also does not want these treaties to “hamper the development of a European investment protection policy”.
For more information see “Karel De Gucht, European Commissioner for Trade, Speaking Points: Work Programme for 2010/11, available at: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/html/146123.htm
Cameroon and EU agree to combat illegal timber trade
Cameroon and the EU have signed a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) aimed at ensuring that only legally harvested timber from the West African country enters the European market. Once implemented, the VPA will apply to all wood products harvested or produced in Cameroon, which has long struggled with illegal and unsustainable logging. When the VPA takes effect, all wood products exported from Cameroon to the EU will have to be accompanied by a license proving that they were legally obtained and that they were harvested in a way that retains the health of the nation’s forests and gives benefits back to forest communities. Cameroon exported nearly US$500 million worth of wood and wood products in 2006. Approximately 80% of the country’s processed wood is exported to the EU, while 60% of its raw logs are shipped to China. This is the third VPA to be signed in Africa in as many years. Ghana signed an agreement in 2008 and the Republic of Congo agreed a deal in 2009.
Source: “Cameroon, EU Ink Timber Trade Deal”, Bridge Trade BioRes, 14 May 2010
African exporters hit hard by airspace closure in Europe
African exporters of perishable goods, particularly horticultural products, were badly affected in April when the skies over Europe were closed to flights due a volcano eruption in Iceland. According to information compiled by the International Trade Centre (ITC), countries like Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, South Africa , Tanzania and Zambia - all of which sell flowers to European markets - saw a steep decline in exports while flights were grounded. In the week prior to the air crisis, 84.7 million cut flowers were imported into Europe, while imports dropped to 46.5 million during the week of 19 April, according to the Dutch Flower Auctions Association (VBN). ”This crisis illustrates how natural disasters have highlighted the vulnerability of airfreight transport and those who depend on it,” says the ITC, which notes that total airfreight shipped into and out of the 16 eurozone countries increased to 9.8 million tonnes in 2008 from 3.1 million tonnes in 2000.
For more information, see “The Impact of European Airspace Closures on African Horticultural Exports”, International Trade Centre, 14 May 2010, available at: http://www.intracen.org/docman/PRSR15431.pdf
Report investigate the impact of EPAs on women
Recently published case studies shed light on the gender implications of EPAs in Tanzania, Mozambique and Jamaica. The studies conclude that the agreements are unlikely to lead to job losses for women, given that the sectors where women are mostly employed remain protected. However, the EPAs will impact women in other ways. Revenue loss from lower tariffs, for example, may hinder government-run social programmes, with a disproportionate impact on women. Moreover, those consumer goods that can be imported more cheaply will still be unaffordable to most women. The report also warns that systemic discrimination limits women’s access to infrastructure and assets, which in turn will frustrate the ability of women to increase small-scale production. The recommendations include that trade impact assessments should consider gender implications, that resources spent on trade-related sectors should include a gender focus, and that trade negotiations and consultations encourage broad-based participation.
“Gender Justice in Trade Policy: The gender effects of Economic Partnership Agreements”, published by One World Action and the Commonwealth Secretariat is available at: http://www.oneworldaction.org/papers_documents_archives/research/GenderTradeProject.htm
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