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Government will resist EPA signing
pressures - Agyeman-Manu
Accra, Nov. 27, Ghanadot/GNA - Government says it will not
bow to any outside pressure to sign onto the Economic
Partnership Agreements (EPAs) by the December 31 deadline.
The EPAs will replace the current Cotonou Agreement under
which the Africa, Carribean and Pacific Countries (ACP) have
enjoyed duty and quota free access to the EU market.
Under the proposed deal, ACP countries will be required to
open up their markets for about 80 per cent of products from
the EU in order to continue to enjoy the duty and quota free
access to the EU market.
Fresh produce exporters on Monday urged government to go it
alone and sign the EPA light, an interim arrangement in the
area of market access, with the European Union if the ECOWAS
bloc was not ready to do so.
West Africa trade negotiators at a meeting in Abidjan had
asked for extension of the World Trade Organization's waiver
to enable the region to continue to enjoy the duty and quota
free access until the negotiations were concluded.
The produce exporters held that signing the interim deal was
important to avoid disruption to trade in January 2008.
In an answer to a question on the government's position on
the issue at a forum organized by the Ghanaian-German
Economic Association for visiting German trade mission of
North Rhine-Westphalia, Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, Deputy
Minister of Trade and Industry, said the government would
not be intimidated to sign the agreement.
"No decision has been made yet as to the way to go. We are
still talking and believe there are options to explore to
avoid disruption to trade come January," he said.
Mr Agyeman-Manu said government was clear in its mind that
bilateral agreements would not work well in the interest of
regional integration.
"I will be surprised to see any individual country come out
of the ECOWAS bloc to sign a bilateral deal with the EU," he
said.
However, the EU is unwilling to accede to the request.
Instead, it has proposed a two-stage approach to the EPAs;
that is concluding an agreement in the area of market access
by the end of November this year, while negotiations on
services and other trade related issues such as government
procurement should continue till 2008.
On the other hand, civil society groups, including the Third
World Network and the Ghana Trade Union Congress, have asked
government to put on the negotiating table alternative of an
enhanced Generalised System of Preferences (GSP+) rather
than sign onto the EPA.
They argued that the GSP+ would provide the same market
access to exporters to the EU market as the one currently
being enjoyed under the Cotonou Agreement.
The EU, however, maintains that there were no options for
the waiver because the current regime was incompatible with
World Trade Organisation rules, which calls for equal
treatment for all members.
The EU said Ghana was not qualified for GSP+ because it was
not a least developed country, according to the
classification of the United Nations.
GNA
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