Meeting of the Senior Officials/ACP Technical Follow-up Group on EPA Negotiations and implementation
at ACP House - Brussels on 4th May, 2009
Welcoming statement by H.E. Sir John KAPUTIN
Secretary-General of the ACP Group of States
Permanent Secretaries and Directors-General of Ministries responsible for Trade Issues in ACP States
Excellency Ambassadors,
Heads and representatives of ACP regional integration organizations
Distinguished participants,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is a pleasure for me to welcome you all to, Brussels, Belgium, and to ACP House for this joint meeting of ACP Senior Trade Officials and Technical Follow-up Group on EPA negotiations and implementation.
I appreciate that most of you have come from afar. Some of you went through intricate air connections. Coupled with the financial crisis that most of our countries are facing, your presence here today shows the importance that your respective Governments and regional organizations attach to this meeting.
Distinguished participants,
You have been called upon to attend today’s meeting so that you can prepare for the ACP Ministerial Trade Committee scheduled to take place here tomorrow and Wednesday, to be followed on Thursday by the joint ACP-EC Ministerial Trade Committee.
You have the whole of today and part of tomorrow morning to complete your work and come up with concrete recommendations for the ACP Ministers of Trade.
The Secretariat, working closely with the ACP Subcommittee on Trade and the Committee of Ambassadors, and in consultation with the European Commission, has drawn up the Ministerial agenda. We believe that the identified issues need to be addressed since they are critical and important for the well functioning of the ACP-EU trade relations.
As technical experts responsible for trade in your respective Ministries and regional secretariats, we would like to draw upon your experience and knowledge to not only enrich the agenda, if that is necessary, but also to come up with specific workable recommendations to Ministers. The ultimate objective is to strengthen ACP-EU trade cooperation and partnership.
Therefore, your meeting is called upon to deliberate and offer advice under four main themes.
The first concerns the EPA process in terms of the remaining aspects of the negotiations for the regions concerned and implementation issues for the regions that have completed the negotiations. In this regard you will be requested to provide information on how your regions have progressed so far. By sharing your experiences, including successes and shortcomings in the process, we expect that all participants will come out wiser and learn from one another.
The second issue relates to actions by the European Community in terms of the ever increasing non tariff measures that could impede ACP exports into Europe. We have seen a proliferation of EU regulations, legislative proposals and other measures that threaten ACP trade. You may not be in a position to address each and every concern. In fact this is not the intention unless there is an extremely serious and burning issue. What we hope to achieve is to establish a workable system so that before our partners can legislate a measure, all the ACP concerns and interests in that specific matter can be adequately taken into account. We believe that this is an imperative if the ACP-EU partnership will continue to flourish.
The next topic that you will consider relates to the WTO process. The ACP States have been disappointed that the promised development round has eluded all the negotiators. The situation is exacerbated by the serious financial and economic crisis confronting the whole world with the most devastating effects being felt by the developing countries.
ACP negotiators in Geneva have been working hard to defend the interests of the Group. I am gratified to note that we have among us a team of eminent Ambassadors from Geneva who will update the meeting on the WTO Doha process. This will enable the meeting to come up concrete recommendations for consideration by Ministers regarding the stance that they should take in their discussions at the JMTC.
The fourth item for your consideration is on the impact of the current global economic recession on trade. ACP States are facing numerous challenges brought about by the global economic, food, fuel and financial crisis. We are witnessing a slow down on growth rates, declines in exports occasioned by a reduction in export demand, and low and volatile prices for export commodities. Further, we face a serious fall in tourism earnings and foreign remmittances as well as job losses in high employment sectors such as mining. We fear that foreign investments and aid support will be reduced and yet this is when these are needed most by our countries. What can be done in the context of the ACP-EU Partnership? This is the question that you will be called upon to address and advise the ACP Trade Ministers accordingly.
Finally, the Secretariat will brief you regarding an important piece of work that has recently commnenced, concerning the second five-yearly revision of the Cotonou Agrement. Here the meeting will confine itself to the trade aspects. The formal launch of the revision is expected to take place at the forthcoming joint ACP-EU Council Session scheduled to take place at the end of this month.
So there is significant depth in the agenda but we believe that you are equal to the task to point the way ahead to our Ministers. Again, the objective is to come up with a set of recommendations that will guide the Ministerial Trade Committee in its preparatory work for the Joint Ministerial trade committee.
Therefore without taking too much of your time, I want to once again welcome you and to wish you a successful meeting.
Thank you for your kind attention.
|
