Category: Topics

The Need for SMEs to be Prepared for the Possible Impact of Different Brexit Scenarios Highlighted

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Summary

The lack of preparation by EU SMEs for a possible ‘hard’ Brexit scenario has been highlighted as an important potential threat to the future viability of many EU SMEs. The need to begin contingency planning for the possible consequences of various Brexit scenarios would appear to be relevant for indigenous ACP exporters, the vast majority of which by EU standards are SMEs. The launch by the Irish government of a ‘Be Prepared Grant’ facility to help exposed Irish enterprises plan for various Brexit contingencies could usefully be replicated for a cross section of ACP enterprises and producers associations which are most vulnerable to potential Brexit related disruptions. Funding for such an ACP focussed facility should be sought form the EC and the UK government. Read more “The Need for SMEs to be Prepared for the Possible Impact of Different Brexit Scenarios Highlighted”

March 2018 AU Position on Future Negotiations with EU Sparks Controversy

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Summary

The recently adopted African Union (AU) Executive Council decision to recommend the new agreement with the EU ‘should be separated from the ACP context’ is in contradictions to established common ACP positions, which in line with the recent CARIFORUM statement had emphasises the importance of building on the acquis by negotiating with the EU at the all-ACP level. By abandoning substantive negotiations at the pan-ACP level (the only level at which the EC is obliged to conclude an agreement by March 2020) the AU position risks weakening the position of regional negotiators on issues where there are tensions in the ACP-EU relationship. This includes a range of agro-food sector trade issue which in the context of evolving trends could come to take on growing significance fort African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, most notably in regard to the wider policy framework within which the EU seeks the implementation of EPA commitments.  This could carry particularly important implications for African structural economic transformation objectives in the agro-food sector. Read more “March 2018 AU Position on Future Negotiations with EU Sparks Controversy”

EC Asserts EUs TRQ approach to Mercosur Beef Access Request Protects Sensitive Sectors

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Summary

The debate on the EU’s TRQ offer for beef in the EU-Mercusor negotiations throws into sharp relief the double standards which the EU applies to the use of quantitative restrictions on trade in sensitive agricultural products. While routinely using such tools to protect EU producers in trade arrangements with competitive agricultural exporters, the EU insists on a prohibition on the use of quantitative restriction on imports from the EU under trade arrangements with ACP countries.  This is despite the EU often being the major source of agricultural imports in sensitive sectors in EPA signatory countries.

It also raises the potentially important issue of the effects of Brexit in the beef sector both in terms of the threat to the functioning of national and regional beef markets in the ACP (particularly in Africa) and the future value of preferential access to EU27 markets in the post-Brexit context. This will require ACP beef exporters to the EU to pay close attention to the prospects for a ‘hard’ Brexit in the meat sector as EU27/UK negotiation progress throughout the course of 2018. Read more “EC Asserts EUs TRQ approach to Mercosur Beef Access Request Protects Sensitive Sectors”

European Civil Society Organisations call for EC Action on UTPs Along All Agricultural Supply Chains

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Summary

In a letter to EC President Juncker European civil society bodies have come out publicly in favour of extending proposed EU regulations on UTPs to supply chains including those sourcing from beyond the EU’s borders. The ACP Group and individual ACP governments with an interest in those supply chains which are most seriously affected could usefully support this initiative, so as to have an EU regulatory framework in place which can be developed in the context of the post-Cotonou negotiations to operationalise the application of these principles along ACP-EU supply chains – from farm to fork. Read more “European Civil Society Organisations call for EC Action on UTPs Along All Agricultural Supply Chains”

Will ACP Exporters Serving the UK Market Under EPAs Still Enjoy Duty Free-Quota Free Access During the Transition Period in EU27/UK Relations?

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Will ACP Exporters Serving the UK Market Under EPAs Still Enjoy Duty Free-Quota Free Access During the Transition Period in EU27/UK Relations?

Summary

A revised EU27/UK Withdrawal Agreement has been posted (dated 19th March 2018) which sets out the current areas of agreement and areas of text ‘on which discussions are ongoing as no agreement has yet been found’.  While there is now agreement on the UK treatment of imports under EU preferential trade agreement throughout the transition, with the UK being bound to meet in full its market access obligations it remains unclear as to how UK exports are to be treated. This issue is dealt with in a footnote and not in the main body of the text.  It is unclear whether agreement has yet been reached on the UK continuing to enjoy the tariff preferences accorded EU27 member throughout the transition period.  This is an important issue since it will impact on the negotiating position of ACP government in ensuring the UK addresses their longer term concerns in future trade relations with a post-Brexit Britain. Read more “Will ACP Exporters Serving the UK Market Under EPAs Still Enjoy Duty Free-Quota Free Access During the Transition Period in EU27/UK Relations?”

The Potential Differential Effects of Stricter EU False Coddling Moth Controls on African Exports

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Summary
Controlling false coddling moth infestations in the face of stricter EU controls will be a major challenge for African fruit and vegetable exporters, with different countries having very different systems in place for controlling infestations in exported product. South Africa’s sophisticated ‘electronic compliance database’ Phytclean could potentially hold important lessons as national SPS authorities across the Africa seek to get to grips with stricter EU controls. This is potentially an important area for pan-African technical cooperation which would supplement existing EU support programmes to strengthen SPS control capacities implemented through such programmes as COLEACP. Read more “The Potential Differential Effects of Stricter EU False Coddling Moth Controls on African Exports”

Brexit Implications for ACP EU Post Cotonou Negotiation in the Agro-food Sector

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The 22 February 2018 ACT Alliance convened a seminar on the Implications of Brexit in the agro-food sector for ACP countries, included an afternoon session on the implications of Brexit for the forthcoming ACP-EU Post-Cotonou negotiations and the possible ramifications for ACP agro-food sectors. This note summarises the main points made in the initial presentation during this session. It is not an exploration of all the issues arising in the context of these forthcoming negotiations but rather provides an introduction to some of the most salient aspects of the impact of the Brexit process on the post-Cotonou negotiations as this impinges on the agro-food sector relationship. It looked at these salient aspects with reference to 3 specific dimensions: trade relations, development cooperation and political relations and seeks to selectively review the implications for different ACP regions. Read more “Brexit Implications for ACP EU Post Cotonou Negotiation in the Agro-food Sector”

The Complications of ‘Rolling-Over’ Current EPAs into ‘Cut and Paste’ Bilateral ‘UK-Only’ Trade Deals

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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 9 explores the complications faced in ‘rolling-over’ current EPAs into ‘cut and paste’ bilateral ‘UK-only’ trade agreements. Read more “The Complications of ‘Rolling-Over’ Current EPAs into ‘Cut and Paste’ Bilateral ‘UK-Only’ Trade Deals”

Brexit and the WTO Complications

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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 11 explores the WTO complication arising from the Brexit process with reference to the expectations of other WTO members as to how the EU will treat the UK once it is a 3rd country and how the EU’s current preferential trade partners should treat the UK once the UK is no longer a member of the EU and is just another 3rd country trade partner. Read more “Brexit and the WTO Complications”

The Complicating Factors Arising from a Transition Period in EU27/UK Relations

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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 10 explores the complications arising from proposals for a 21 month transition in in EU27/UK relations during which the UK would remain bound by EU rules and regulations but would no longer be a part of the EU. Read more “The Complicating Factors Arising from a Transition Period in EU27/UK Relations”