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Launching the COMESA Customs Union: The Secretary General Talks
TNI meets with Sindiso Ngwenya, Secretary General of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), to discuss the much-anticipated launch of the Customs Union and the signing of the Interim EPAs. TNI: The launch of the Customs Union has been postponed several times in the past. Why is now the time right to launch…
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Editorial
TNI’s September issue leads with an exclusive interview with COMESA Secretary General Sindiso Ngwenya, who speaks frankly on the recent launch of the COMESA customs union and ESA’s signing of the Interim EPA. While member states have deferred the launch of the customs union for a number of years, Ngwenya identifies the financial crisis as…
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News and Publications - In Brief
Africa Wants Greater Voice at IMF Civil society in Kenya is urging the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for greater representation within its decision-making boards and the formation of a dispute resolution body. In 2008, the IMF launched an effort to reform its governance structure by soliciting feedback from a wide range of audiences, including civil society…
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They Want to Silence Us: The Impact of Governance on Trade and Rural Development in Cameroon
One of the major obstacles to the “harmonious and favourable integration” of ACP countries in global trade is lack of governance. Contributing to global trade presupposes many requirements that several ACP countries can’t meet due to poor governance, observed both in these countries’ institutions (executive, parliament, and justice) and in international fora where global trade…
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The ACP Advantage: Interpreting GATT Article XXIV and Market Access Implications for EPAs
The Economic Partnership Agreements between ACP countries and the European Commission must comply with Article XXIV of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which governs regional trade agreements concluded by WTO members. Article XXIV stipulates that ‘free trade areas’ must eliminate duties on “substantially all the trade” within a “reasonable length of time,”…
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After the Sugar Protocol
On 30 September 2009, the Sugar Protocol will officially expire. Following a six year transition period, the Protocol - which provides a group of ACP countries with guaranteed access to the EU market for fixed quantities of sugar at preferential prices - will be replaced by a non-reciprocal duty and quota-free preferential trade system on…
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Shortfalls and Opportunities: The Implementation of the Africa-EU Trade, Regional Integration and Infrastructure Partnership
More than a year-and-a-half has passed since European Union (EU) and African Heads of State adopted the Joint Africa-EU Strategy (JAES) at the Lisbon Summit in December 2007. The main objectives of the JAES framework are to enhance political dialogue, to strengthen institutional ties and to address common challenges through a partnership of equals. This…
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WTO Roundup
The ban would apply to all goods that contain seal products, such as fur, meat, and omega-3 diet supplements made from seal oil. However, the regulation contains an exemption for seal products produced from the traditional hunts of Inuit communities in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Russia. The ban does not prohibit shipment of seal products…
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EPA Update
The Bahamas continues negotiations as CARIFORUM EPA is implemented After signing an EPA with the EC on 15 October 2008, the government of the Bahamas was given a six-month extension to finalise the services offer. Although the goods component of the EPA is completed and signed, the EC is still working with Barbadian authorities…
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Events
ACP-EU Events September EU-Pacific Technical Meeting, Brussels (tbc) 2-8 SADC Summit for Heads of State and Government, Kinshasa, DRC 3-4 TRALAC Annual Conference, Cape Town, South Africa 7-11 ECOWAS Regional Workshop and Training on MDGs, Abuja, Nigeria 11 EU-South Africa Summit, South Africa (tbc) 16-18 ILO/CARICOM…
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Resources
Resources All references are available at: www.acp-eu-trade.org/library Council Decision on the signature and provisional application of the Interim Partnership Agreement between the European Community, of the one part, and the Pacific States, of the other part, Council of the European Union, 26 June 2009, register.consilium.europa.eu Benchmarking EPA between EU and ECOWAS, Ken Ukaocha, Mike Kwanashie,…