Trade Hot Topics Issue #76: Changing EU Policies and ACP Exports

Around three-quarters of all African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) goods exported to the EU receive no tariff preferences. These are the goods that are subject to no tariffs on a ‘Most Favoured Nation’ (MFN) basis, regardless of the trade regime under which they are exported. Of the 25 per cent of ACP exports to which tariff preferences apply, approximately 80 per cent is due to the agriculture, fisheries and food sectors. Tariff preferences are furthermore largely concentrated on products which fall under the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) or common fisheries policy, or those products which directly compete with CAP-covered commodities. This makes any change in EU agricultural policy particularly important for ACP exports, as it is in the sphere of food and agricultural exports that changes in policy are most profoundly felt. This issue of Commonwealth Trade Hot Topics discusses some of the resultant concerns for ACP states.