• The West Africa EPA Development Programme: Between conservatism and innovation
    Despite several self-imposed deadlines, West Africa and the EU continue to negotiate an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), as many other ACP regions. Beyond market access, EPAs represent an opportunity to strengthen regional integration and put ‘trade at the service of development’. EPA provisions must thus be tailored to address the development objectives of the…
  • Editorial
    Marking a milestone in the EU-West Africa EPA negotiations, the EU made its formal commitment to the West Africa EPA Development Programme (commonly known by its French acronym, PAPED) on 10 May 2010, which includes a pledge to inject €6.5 billion into the programme over the next five years. In our lead feature this month,…
  • News and Publications
    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…
  • An interview with Hon. Alhaji Mohamed Daramy, ECOWAS Commissioner for Trade, Customs and Free Movement of Persons and Goods
    TNI: How far has  ECOWAS progressed with the Custom Union? Daramy: We are currently in the process of finalising the Common External Tariff (CET). We will be meeting on 25 May in Accra to work on the adoption of a 35% tariff under a fifth band. This fifth band will comprise a list of products that…
  • A joint path to development: The EU response to the West Africa EPA Development Programme
    The EU Council Conclusions adopted on 10th May 2010, setting out the European Union’s response to the West Africa EPA Development Programme (EPADP/PAPED), condenses more than a year of reflection and discussions, in which Spain has actively participated, on the way the Union should respond more adequately to the challenges faced by West Africa. From…
  • One MDG that can be achieved now: Market access for the poorest countries
    Recognising the role of trade in poverty reduction, “duty-free, quota-free market” access for LDCs is one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the progress of which will be assessed at a UN summit this September. Based on the analysis of a recently convened expert group, Kimberly Ann Elliott outlines how trade preference programmes can be…
  • Economic Partnership Agreements and food security
    The African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries face a massive challenge in tackling hunger and under-nutrition, but many critics have argued that the commitments required of ACP countries under Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) will make this more difficult. Alan Matthews investigates the threat to food security posed by these agreements. Concerns over the potential impact…
  • Trade policy for food security: Farm policies of developed countries
    Farm policies in developed countries have been widely blamed for creating problems for food security in developing countries. Many of these criticisms are well-aimed, and this note will not attempt a defense against those arguments that are less than persuasive. Instead, the intention is to step back and see in which direction EU and US…
  • WTO Roundup
    WTO members meet in small groups in effort to revive Doha After almost two years of stasis in the WTO Doha Round trade talks, different groups of WTO members are meeting to explore possible ways forward. Yet, it remains unclear whether governments will be able to overcome substantial differences in opinion on what a multilateral…
  • EPA Update
    Joint ACP-EU Committee of Ambassadors considers EPAs’ state of play ahead of June Joint Council On 29 April the Joint ACP-EU Committee of Ambassadors adopted a report from the Joint ACP-EU Sub-Committee on Trade Cooperation held on 16 April.[i] The report includes five guiding principles for the continuation of Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)negotiations as set…
  • Resources
    All references are available at: www.acp-eu-trade.org/library The EU Commitment to Deliver Aid for Trade in West Africa and Support the EPA Development Programme (PAPED), ECDPM Discussion Paper 96, ECDPM, www.ecdpm.org Trade and Production Adjustments in ACP Countries: Lessons from the Caribbean Rum Programme, Braun-Munzinger, C. and P. Goodison. 2010, ECDPM Discussion Paper 97, www.ecdpm.org Draft…
  • Events
    June 31/05- 01/06  64th session of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers, Abuja, Nigeria 31/05- 03/06  91st session of the ACP Council of Ministers, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso 31/05-04/06  EU-West Africa technical negotiations on rules of origin, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso 2-3  2nd Africa-France Business Meeting, Bordeaux, France 4  35th session of ACP-EC Council of Ministers: signing ceremony for…