Joint Statement by the EAC and COMESA Secretariats on the EPA negotiations
The EAC and COMESA Secretariats held consultations in Nairobi, Kenya on 23rd - 24th October 2007, on the EPA negotiations following the regional negotiations that were held in October 2007 in Maputo, Mozambique and Antananarivo, Madagascar.
The objective of the consultations was to facilitate the harmonization process towards the conclusion of the ongoing EP A negotiations.
Noted with appreciation that the substantive text agreed on between the ESA and EC on trade in goods, development and rules of origin would serve as a common basis for an EPA Agreement between the EAC Countries on one hand and the ESA Members States on the other.
The two Secretariats recognized the need to harmonize the process of concluding the EPA negotiations, taking into consideration the status of the EAC which is a Customs Union with binding commitments. This stems from the fact that the EAC Customs Union came into being in 1 January 2005, is notified to the WTO and the WTO undertook an EAC joint trade policy review in October 2006. Consequently, the EAC States will be required to sign an EPA with the EC as a Customs Union.
In view of the above, the EAC countries are to offer their market access to the EC under the EAC Customs Union framework, using the EAC list of sensitive products, tariff phase down schedules based on the EAC CET / CTN.
This way forward will safeguard the EAC Customs Union considering that currently one Member State is negotiating the EPA under SADC and the other EAC Member States are negotiating under the ESA configuration.
That the ESA Countries excluding the EAC countries would submit an ESA market access offer to the EC with sub-regional and national schedules.
Harmonization of the ESA/SADC EPA negotiating process will continue to be handled through the EAC/COMESA/SADC tripartite process.