Extended Lome agreement urged

Trade officials of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) on Monday called for European Union (EU) trade concessions for the region to be extended by another 10 years, news reports said. The trade officials are holding a two-day meeting in Botswana in preparation for a gathering of SADC trade ministers to discuss a regional free trade area. That agreement would eventually form the basis of trade relations with the EU and replace EU concessions granted under the Lome Convention for African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, due to expire in February next year. "The member states seek a waiver from the WTO (World Trade Organisation) on the current trade arrangement to be continued for another 10 years," SADC chief economist Chingu Mwila was quoted as saying. "But the EU says the trade preferences could only be continued for another five years." Under the Lome agreement, most ACP products enter European markets duty free - a concession which is not afforded reciprocally to EU goods. "The EU says that arrangement is in conflict with the WTO," an international trade lawyer told IRIN on Tuesday. "Instead of non-reciprocal trade arrangements they want the ACP on a sub-regional basis to enter into free trade agreements which would be reciprocal. "The issue is when should this start. The ACP says it needs 10 years to restructure their economies. What the EU says it is prepared to do is get a waiver from the WTO and continue with Lome for five years," the international trade specialist said. Meanwhile, Africa's position towards the WTO Seattle trade negotiations in November is being discussed at the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) meeting in Algeria this week. "The least developed countries don't believe any longer that WTO is working in their favour," the trade lawyer said. "If WTO is to be truly global it has to recognise that countries are at different stages of development." In addition: "Africa is trying to make sure that what is negotiated at WTO feeds into their EU negotiations," she told IRIN.