EPA Watch

In a joint open Letter to Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht, 30 NGOs expressed their concern over the undue pressure on the government of Namibia to sign the interim EPA. The negotiations on the “SADC” EPA are still ongoing and contentious issues still remain outstanding. The NGOs urged the Commissioner to stop the pressure on Namibia, but to engage positively with the “SADC EPA” countries, and show policy flexibility in addressing the outstanding issues in the negotiations.

Full text of the letter: Namibia NGO letter 100618

Answer: De Gucht reply to NGO letter on Namibia 100712

Presentations and reports from the well attended international Seminar “EPAs in (times of) crisis” on 29 April 2010 in Brussels:

Jean-Jacques Grodent (SOS Faim): Les APE nous sauveront-ils des crises alimentaires?

Karin Ulmer (APRODEV): EPAs: Can better safeguards help?

Sanya Reid-Smith (Third World Network): Services, investments and trade-related issues

Ablassé Ouédraogo, former Deputy Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and former special advisor to the President of ECOWAS for trade negotiations, explains five reasons to supend EPA negotiations. Read the rest of this entry »