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From Victoria Ruzvidzo in Brussels, Belgium
Countries from the African, Caribbean and Pacific islands will soon engage the European Union to allow flexibility on the economic partnership agreements, amid indications that many will not be ready to reach agreements by October 2014, the set deadline. Briefing journalists at the end of the ACP council of Ministers meeting here yesterday, the chairperson of the Committee of Ambassadors Mr Fatumanava Pao Leturu said the EU needed to be flexible in the negotiations seeing as many of the countries in the ACP region still had contentious issues that needed to be addressed.

“Come October 2014 a lot of countries will be stampeded into signing the interim EPAs. We think it’s a betrayal of the partnership.

“This partnership is a real one which deals with issues of promoting sustainable development in our countries and building competitive economies to enable us to integrate into the fast growing developing world. We want to ensure that commodities and products in the ACP states are traded and become pillars for achieving poverty reduction, sustainable development and integration of our countries into the world system,” he said.

Zimbabwe has already signed the interim EPA but issues regarding its implementation remain outstanding.
An EPA is a trade and technical agreement between the ACP and the EU. The latter is the ACP’s largest trading block.
Negotiations for these agreements began more than a decade ago.

Ambassador Luteru expressed concern that the EU was intent on maintaining the October 24 deadline, which had since become law, and yet there were still issues of concern.

He raised concern on the fragmented approach adopted by the ACP countries towards the negotiations saying this weakened their position.
“Initial agreements were that the countries would negotiate as a block but some had seen broken ranks and negotiated on their own.

“Right from the start we wanted the group to stay together and negotiate as a group but as we progressed some groups thought it better to go it alone. We then broke up as a regional grouping. We are a central negotiation group which we thought was important,” he said.

Indications by yesterday were that only the Caribbean region had signed as a group while individual countries from Africa and the Pacific have signed an interim EPA. The president of the ACP Council of Ministers Mr Tuilaepa Fatialofa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi is expected to write a letter soon to the EU outlining the difficulties and desire by the group to conclude the negotiations.

The ACP would also implore on the EU to be flexible in its engagement.
EPA negotiations have been emotive over the past few years, with Africa and its peers in the ACP seeking agreements that will not compromise their space on global trading system.