Brussels, 27/10/2004 (Agence Europe) - The fifth meeting of the joint ACP/EU ministerial trade committee, on Wednesday in Brussels, provided both parties with an opportunity to take stock of negotiations on Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between the EU and the six regional integration ACP regions, and of WTO talks, and also to bring up bilateral issues such as sugar, textiles and bananas. The meeting allowed fears to be calmed, was the opinion expressed by both co-presidents - Pascal Lamy, outgoing Trade Commissioner for whom, in principle, this was the last meeting (he told the press he hopes so just minutes after postponement of the vote of investiture for the Barroso Commission), and Ishmael Ashitey, Trade and Industry Minister for Ghana. "If I compare our relations which started with very little at Seattle five years ago with what they are today, then they have gained considerably in inter-action and frankness", Mr Lamy told reporters. The main results are:
APE: Mr Lamy said negotiations with the six ACP regions have all been launched and are unfolding as they should. He said the deadline for talks is end 2007 so that the EPAs can take effect in 2008 with transition periods ranging from ten to fifteen years. Invited to be more exact, he explained that the very nature of these talks could but cause frustration among those most curious. The whole of the first part is not trade negotiation between the EU and the ACPs but between the ACP countries themselves for setting areas of economic and commercial integration in place. He went on to say that it is only once they have progressed toward building these enlarged markets - which, alone, can attract investors - that ACP/EU trade talks can begin. Mr Ashitey evoked the request of ACP States for financial support to improve economic infrastructures and for the interconnection of road and energy networks. "We have come with our requests, especially for additional resources for negotiation and the implementation of EPAs. Pascal Lamy told us this was a matter of a little flexibility but not more", Mr Ashitey said. Jean-Robert Goulongana, Secretary General of the ACP Group, added that the request for additional resources also covered support for negotiation (over and beyond the extension of 3 million foreseen by the Commission until 2005, the initial allocation of 20 million already being exhausted) and the implementation of EPAs to offset the cost of adjustment and loss of receipts linked to liberalisation. Pascal Lamy considered it premature to speak of this, mainly because he is not certain that the EPAs will be translated by immediate trade liberalisation.
WTO: Both parties reviewed the progress of technical work with a view to the WTO ministerial conference in December 2005 and evoked the problems of hinging multilateral negotiation to EPA negotiation, "which are WTO plus", Pascal Lamy specified, hoping that ACP/EU cooperation will be strengthened. "We have crossed a first stage: that of developing a framework for modalities. Now we must develop the modalities", he said, assuring ACPs of European support when developing their technical capacities.
Sugar: Given the concerns caused by the changes to the sugar regime, Pascal Lamy recalled the principles of the reform under discussion. "The final parameters, namely the fall in prices and the beginning of implementation, will be finalised after discussions next year". Mr Lamy stressed the commitments taken by the Commission so that, "whatever the results, the EU will be able to help countries benefiting from the sugar protocol when faced with the adjustment process at reduced prices and the fall in income that some may offset by a rise in export volumes", while others will have to resort to a conversion programme.
Textiles: Both parties spoke of the prospect of an end to textile quotas at the end of the year, a major concern for two ACP countries, Mauritius and Madagascar, which account for 85% of the total of ACP textile exports. "We are working with them on this difficult transition", Mr Lamy said. According to Mr Ashitey, these reassurances did calm things down.
Bananas: "Faced by highly competitive producers such as the countries of Latin America, the EU wants not only to protect its own producers but also, and above all, to protect ACP producers", Mr Lamy said, recalling the need to meet WTO obligations, hence to go onto a system, in 2006, of protection through tariffs exclusively. "We must negotiate at the WTO for a tariff equivalent in tariff terms to the level of access and protection enjoyed by ACPs at the present time". For the first time, Mr Lamy gave ACPs the figure of 230 euros a tonne, which puts the EU on the table and which corresponds to the level of tariff protection for the EU25. "Pascal Lamy told us that, for some countries, 230 euros/tonne will not be enough. We feel that this reform will have an impact on many ACP countries", Mr Ashitey added. "Is there a margin for bringing this price down?", Mr Lamy replied. "Banana negotiations must be ended - including in the arbitration chapter - in good time for the new tariff to take effect on 1 January 2006. My figure is a contribution to this negotiation. Some ACP counties will consider it too low, and some Latin American countries too high. That's what I'm expecting".
GSP: Reform of the Generalised System of Preferences was briefly presented by Commissioner Lamy. Technical discussions are foreseen in coming weeks.