Trade terms: A guide to EPAs

Abuja Treaty: The 1991 Abuja Treaty established the African Economic Community, outlining six stages for achieving a single monetary zone for Africa. (Source: www.brook.edu)

Africa Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA): The United States initiated AGOA was signed into law on May 18, 2000. It offers incentives for African countries to open their economies and build free markets. (Source: http://www.agoa.gov/)

African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States: Refers to the 79 member states that form this grouping. Visit http://www.acpsec.org/en/acp_states.htm for a full listing.

Common Agricultural Policy (CAP): The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is the agricultural policy of the EU. It is a highly regulated agricultural trade regime, designed to prevent cheaper imported products flooding EU markets. (Source: www.epawatch.net)

Cotonou Agreement: This refers to an agreement between members of the ACP and The European Community, signed in Cotonou On 23 June 2000. It is an international agreement between 78 ACP countries and the 25 countries of the European Union (EU). It consists of comprehensive provisions, dealing with aid, trade and political relations. (Source: www.epawatch.net)

Doha round of the WTO: The Doha round of World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations aims to lower barriers to trade around the world. Talks have been hung over a divide between the rich countries and developing countries. Agricultural subsidies are the most significant issue upon which agreement has been hardest to negotiate. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org)

Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA): There are two schools of thought on EPAs. The EU largely sees EPAs as a free trade area agreement involving the elimination of import duties, inclusion of all economic sectors and that will include agreements on trade in services and trade related areas. ACP governments believe that if EPAs are to support the economic development of their economies and contribute to the elimination of poverty they must include measures to promote the structural transformation of ACP economies. (Source: www.epawatch.net)

European Union (EU): The EU is a union of 25 European countries. It was established in 1992 by the Treaty on European Union (the Maastricht Treaty). A key activity of the EU is the establishment and administration of a common single market, consisting of a customs union, a single currency a Common Agricultural Policy and a Common Fisheries Policy. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org)

Everything But Arms (EBA): On September 20th 2000, the European Commission announced the adoption of a plan to introduce duty free access to the EU market for all exports “originating” in least developed countries, with the exception of arms”. The existence of EBA is important in relation to EPAs as it raises the question of what interest do least developed countries have in negotiating a reciprocal preferential trade agreement with the EU given that they already have a non-reciprocal arrangement? (Source: www.epawatch.net)

Free Trade Area (FTA): An area in which member states eliminate tariffs among themselves but maintain individual tariff schedules on imports from non-member countries. (Source: http://www.eu-ldc.org)

Least Developed Countries (LDC): The category of LDCs is a social/economic classification status applied to around 50 countries around the world. The UN defines LDCs based on 3 criteria, with a country needing to meet all three to be considered an LDC. One of the criteria is based on a three-year average estimate of the gross national income (GNI) per capita, where income is under $750. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org)

Lomé Convention: The Lomé Convention is a treaty that regulated trade between the EU and ACP countries between 1975 and 2000. Established in 1975 in Lomé, Togo, the treaty preserved some of the preferential access rights of members of the Commonwealth of Nations to the United Kingdom market on its entry into the Union. It was renewed in 1979, 1985, 1989, and 2000 before being succeeded by the Cotonou Agreement. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org)

Non-reciprocity: This refers to trade preferences which are extended by one country or group of countries to another country or group of countries without any obligation being placed on the second group of countries to grant trade preferences to the first group of countries. A key difference between existing arrangements and EPAs is that EPAs will be reciprocal preferential trade agreements. (Source: www.epawatch.net)

Singapore Issues: The "Singapore issues" refer to four working groups set up during the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1996 in Singapore, namely investment protection, competition policy, transparency in government procurement and trade facilitation. Disagreements between largely developed and developing economies prevented a resolution in these issues, despite repeated attempts to revisit them, notably during the 2003 Ministerial Conference in Cancún, Mexico, whereby no progress was made. (http://en.wikipedia.org)

Special and Differential Treatment: Refers to the argument of developing countries that special circumstances require specific consideration and trade restrictions can be legitimate and appropriate instruments for development purposes. (Source: www.soutchcentre.org)

Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights: The WTO’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), negotiated in the 1986-94 Uruguay Round, introduced intellectual property rules into the multilateral trading system for the first time. Trips is controversial especially when it comes to access to medicines, where patents have led to higher drug prices. (Source: http://www.wto.org)

World Trade Organisation: The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an international body whose purpose is to promote free trade by persuading countries to abolish import tariffs and other barriers. Based in Geneva, the WTO was set up in 1995, replacing another international organisation known as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (Gatt). (Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk)

Websites for more information:

http://www.epawatch.net
http://www.econewsafrica.org/
http://www.acp-eu-trade.org/
http://www.acpsec.org/
http://www.europaworld.org/
http://www.igtn.org/
http://www.twnafrica.org/
http://www.seatini.org/
http://www.aprodev.net/
http://www.christian-aid.org.uk/
http://www.tradecraft.org/
http://www.focusweb.org/
http://www.twnside.org.sg/
http://www.wto.org/