Commissioner Lamy's visit to South-East Africa

EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy will visit Zambia, Mozambique and South Africa between 25 November and 1 December. The purpose of the visit is to strengthen the trade relations with these countries in the context of the renewed EU strategy for Africa-Caribbean and Pacific countries (ACPs).

His visit to Zambia will provide an opportunity to attend a ministerial meeting of COMESA, the regional grouping of Eastern and Southern African countries. Mr. Lamy will meet President Patrick Mwanawasa and Health Minister Bryan Chituwo.

In Mozambique Mr. Lamy will meet President Joaquim Chissano and will explore with Prime Minister Pascoal Mocumbi and Minister for trade Carlos Morgado ways in which trade can contribute to the development of this country, in particular in the field of access to medicines.

In South Africa, Mr. Lamy will meet with trade Ministers from the Southern African region (SADC), hosted by South African Trade Minister Erwin, to discuss the prospects of regional integration in the area. Mr. Lamy will also have an opportunity to discuss with non-governmental organizations and business current EU actions to ensure access to essential medicines for developing countries.

On the eve of his departure Mr. Lamy said: "My visit to these countries offers a very valuable opportunity to give impetus to our on-going trade negotiation with ACP regions, helping these countries better integrate into the world trading system. I will also be sharing with my counterparts and with civil society efforts needed to ensure access to medicines for poor countries, an issue which figures high on the EU agenda. I look forward to cementing links with these countries over the next days."

Zambia

The focus of Mr. Lamy's first visit to Zambia will be on strengthening trade ties with Zambia, in the context of the EU strategy for ACP countries. Mr. Lamy will participate at the meeting of COMESA (Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa) Trade Ministers, where he will express support for economic integration within the region. This is in line with the EU strategy to negotiate trade agreements with regions of ACP countries launched in Brussels on 27 September 2002.

The new trade arrangements between the EU and ACP "Economic and Partnership Agreements (EPAs) - aim at increasing the participation of ACP countries in the world economy and fostering growth and sustainable development. A major element of EPAs will be their regional dimension. EPAs will be based on and reinforce the regional integration process thereby creating larger and more attractive markets for local and foreign investors.

In his discussion with Health Minister Bryan Chituwo Mr. Lamy will address the issue of access to medicines and in particular recent initiatives undertaken by the EU to ensure that poor countries have access to essential medicines needed to treat diseases such as HIV/Aids, malaria and tuberculosis.

Mozambique

This is Mr. Lamy's first visit to Mozambique and he will be focusing on means to ensure that trade links with the EU contribute to the development of the country. In this respect, he will be meeting local business community and visit a local aluminum production plant. Mr. Lamy will also be visiting a local health center and discuss with local health authorities current health situation in Mozambique and how the EU can contribute to ensuring Mozambique patients access to essential medicines. Mr. Lamy will also visit Zambian vegetable and sugar farms in order to raise awareness of the opportunities the EU's Everything-but-Arms initiative has opened for Least Developed Countries by granting full access to the European market.

South Africa

Mr. Lamy will meet with trade Ministers of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), at a meeting hosted by South African Trade Minister Alec Erwin. The on-going negotiations for EPAs with ACP countries will figure prominently on the agenda. Mr. Lamy will also be examining with his counterparts technical assistance needed to allow Southern African countries to benefit from trade opening. Mr. Lamy will visit a local hospital specialized in treatment of AIDs and related diseases and he will be discussing with local non-governmental organizations and medical practitioners how trade policy can contribute to ensuring access to essential medicines.

Background Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) with the ACP

The basic principles and the time frame for EPA negotiations were set out in the Cotonou Agreement, which was concluded between the EU and 77 ACP countries in June 2000 and governs development, political and trade aspects of EU-ACP relations. The Cotonou Agreement states that negotiations for EPAs will take place between September 2002 and January 2008. The negotiations were launched in Brussels on 27 September 2002.

The 76 ACP countries eligible for EPAs are: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Kinshasa), Cook Islands, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Federal States of Micronesia, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Zambia, Zimbabwe. South Africa and Cuba are also ACP members. However, Cuba is not signatory to the Cotonou Agreement and South Africa has already concluded a Trade and Development Co-operation Agreement (TDCA) with the EU.


For more information on ACP countries:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/trade/bilateral/acp/acp.htm

For more information on access to medicines:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/trade/csc/med.htm

| Top |