Commonwealth Hosts Meeting of ACP Chief Negotiators

Kaliopate Tavola, Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade of Fiji Islands

The Commonwealth Secretariat hosted a two-day meeting of the Chief Negotiators of the six African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) regions that are currently negotiating Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the European Union. These agreements are intended to fundamentally transform the ACP states' economic relationship with their European partners, and are expected to have a major impact on the basis of their participation in the multilateral trading system.

Participants in the meeting, which took place on 4-5 October 2005, included lead negotiators for the ACP regions of West Africa, Central Africa, Eastern and Southern Africa, the Southern African Development Community, the Caribbean and the Pacific, as well as the ACP Secretary-General and senior staff members. Also participating were the Director and officials of the ACP-EU Project Management Unit (PMU), which is charged with enhancing the negotiating capacity of the ACP states in these negotiations, as well as outside technical experts who have been working on various subjects in the negotiations.

Kaliopate Tavola, Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade of Fiji Islands, chaired the meeting. At its conclusion he hailed it as highly successful and as providing a unique opportunity for lead EPA negotiators to engage in frank and open discussions on the state of their respective region's negotiations.

Another participant, the Caribbean's lead negotiator Ambassador Richard Bernal, described the encounter as "an important opportunity for counterpart lead negotiators to exchange experiences and information, but also to co-ordinate approaches to upcoming negotiations with the European Commission, on a range of issues."

The meeting provided an opportunity for the participants to help develop common strategic orientations of the respective regional negotiations. It focused on the ACP regional integration processes, market access issues and the necessity for the EPAs to fully incorporate development objectives. It also discussed the content, structure, scope and strategy of an EPA for each region.

On market access issues, the meeting reaffirmed that EPAs should, as provided for in the Cotonou Agreement between the ACP and the EU, actually enhance market access and facilitate the expansion of the supply capacity of ACP countries. The Chief Negotiators recognised the need for regular interchange amongst themselves and with technical specialists, and agreed to meet as necessary in future.

At the end of the meeting the negotiators met with the United Kingdom's Secretary of State for International Development, Hilary Benn. They discussed problems experienced in aid flows and the EPA negotiating process.

The Commonwealth Secretariat's Economic Affairs Division (EAD) provided the venue and logistical support for the meeting and funding was provided by the PMU. Speaking on behalf of the Secretariat, EAD Director Dr Indrajit Coomaraswamy recalled the ambitious 'hub and spokes' capacity-building programme that the Commonwealth is managing to help develop ACP policy formulation and negotiating capacity. He assured the Fijian Foreign Minister of the ongoing willingness of the Commonwealth to continue to support its member countries in these negotiations.

 

CNIS - Commonwealth News and Information Service Issue 256, 12 October 2005

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