Do not rush EPAs agreement, urges Kimunya

Negotiations for the Economic Partnership Agreements should not be rushed to meet any set deadline, Trade minister Mr Amos Kimunya said, adding that pegging the talks on deadlines runs the risk of involved parties getting into an unacceptable deal.

This comes ahead of a meeting on the same scheduled for this weekend that is expected to make a way forward for the talks that begun in 2002.

“What we are after is a deal that is beneficial to the East African Community and for the long-term good of our business. It would not be right for us to rush these just to meet a deadline; it has to be long-term and beneficial,” the minister told journalists in Nairobi on Monday.

Last year, the talks, meant to craft new rules of engagement following expiry of the earlier agreements, collapsed following EAC member states’ strong objections to Europe’s introduction of new trade-related issues.

The EPA was supposed to be concluded by July 31, 2009, but missed the deadline due to lack of consensus on rules of origin-most favoured, a clause on agriculture, trade in services and sustainable development

In December, the EU Delegation in Nairobi said failure to finalise the EPA process could lead to putting non-Least Developed Countries such as Kenya on the Generalised System of Preferences list.

“We have to get the differences between deadlines and objectives of the talks, the negotiations have to be comprehensive and satisfying to both parties,” Mr Kimunya explained

The minister was speaking to reporters after a meeting with the United Kingdom Trade and Investments deputy chief executive officer Ms Susan Haird.

The meeting centered on ways of improving export trade between Kenya and the UK.EAC member states — Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi— are among the 80 countries of the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific that must sign new pacts with the EU to secure their markets.

The agreement is meant to replace current preferential trade arrangements that the WTO has nullified.