On 22 February 2018 ACT Alliance convened Seminar on the Implications of Brexit in the agro-food sector for ACP countries and for the forthcoming ACP-EU Post-Cotonou negotiations. A series of twelve 2 page summary notes were produced for the seminar covering both substantive issues arising within the Brexit process and the current state of play in the Brexit process. Note 4 provides a summary overview of the state of play in regard to the negotiation and implementation of ACP-EU economic partnership agreements based on the EC’s posted summaries and additional information.
| Region/Country | Countries Involved | State of Play |
| Southern African Development Community EPA Group (SADC) | SACU – Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia Swaziland, South Africa. + Mozambique |
Provisionally entered into force on 10 October 2016, however built on the existing EU-South Africa TDCA (1999-2016) under which extensive preferential tariff reductions on imports from the EU into the SACU market had already been implemented and through which tariff standstill and a range of non-tariff trade commitments had been implemented. |
| CARIFORUM | Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. | The CARIFORUM – EU EPA was signed in October 2008 and approved by the European Parliament in March 2009. Under implementation. |
| Eastern Africa | Mauritius, Seychelles, Zimbabwe, Madagascar | In 2009 Mauritius, Seychelles, Zimbabwe and Madagascar signed an EPA. The Agreement has been provisionally applied since 14 May 2012. The European Parliament gave its consent on 17 January 2013. |
| East African Community (EAC) | Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi | The negotiations for the regional EPA were successfully concluded on 16 October 2014. On 1 September 2016, Kenya and Rwanda signed the EPA between the East African Community and the EU. Tanzania, Uganda, and Burundi have not yet signed which impacts on the ability to implement reciprocal tariff reduction commitments under EAC rules. All EU Member States and the EU have also signed the EPA. |
| West Africa | Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana, Gambia, Mauritania | The stepping stone EPA with Côte d’Ivoire was signed on 26 November 2008, approved by the European Parliament on 25 March 2009, and ratified by the Ivoirian National Assembly on 12 August 2016. It entered into provisional application on 3 September 2016.
The stepping stone EPA with Ghana was signed on 28 July 2016, ratified on 3 August 2016 by the Ghanaian Parliament and approved by the European Parliament on 1 December 2016. It entered into provisional application on 15 December 2016. Negotiations of the regional EPA were closed by Chief Negotiators on 6 February 2014 in Brussels. The text was initialled on 30 June 2014. All EU Member States and 13 West African Countries signed the EPA in December 2014, all except Nigeria, Mauritania and The Gambia. Mauritania and ECOWAS signed an Association Agreement on 9 August 2017 to define the country’s participation in ECOWAS’ trade policy including the EPA Regional EPA: After signature by all the Parties, the agreement will be submitted for ratification. |
| Central Africa | Cameroon, the Central African Republic (CAR), Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Chad
|
Cameroon signed the EPA between the EU and Central Africa as the only country in the region on 15 January 2009. The European Parliament gave its consent in June 2013.
In July 2014 the Parliament of Cameroon approved the ratification of the Agreement and on 4 August 2014 the agreement entered into provisional application. |
| Pacific | Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Republic of Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Timor Leste | The EU and Papua New Guinea (PNG) signed the EPA on 30 July and Fiji on 11 December 2009.
The EP gave its consent on 19 January 2011. The Parliament of PNG ratified the EPA on 25 May 2011. On 17 July 2014 Fiji decided to start provisionally applying the Agreement. |