EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis and Ghana’s Trade Minister, Hon. Alan Kyerematen, announced on Thursday 1 July the full implementation of the Interim Economic Partnership Agreement (iEPA) between Ghana and the EU. As of today, 80% of European goods exported to Ghana will be duty free.
Since 2016, the iEPA has already ensured the elimination of tariffs for Ghanaian products exported to the EU’s internal market. The two partners then concluded and signed the iEPA and agreed on its partially delayed implementation.
This included developing the certificates of origin needed to justify the removal of tariffs and putting in place the codes and systems needed to comply with the rules of origin.
“Increased trade volumes under the framework of the iEPA will increase two-way trade, creating jobs and growth in both the EU and Ghana A well-functioning iEPA also reaffirms our shared commitment to rules-based trade, and will therefore enhance relations between the EU and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), as well as African States more broadly”.
In 2019, the EU imported €2.2 billion worth of Ghanaian products and exported €2.1 billion worth of European goods, according to Eurostat. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)