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Capacity-Building Workshop on the West African EPA negotiations and linkages with the WTO

Dakar, Senegal, 6-7 July 2007

 


 

The South Centre, in collaboration with OXFAM International held a two-day capacity-building workshop in Dakar, Senegal on the "Western Africa EPA negotiations and their linkages with the WTO".

 

The objective of the workshop was to raise the awareness and technical knowledge of national EPA committees about issues related to both negotiations and to their interfaces. In fact, as EPA negotiations reach a critical stage, the close implication in the negotiations of national experts and policy-makers is of fundamental importance to support the efforts of the ECOWAS and UEMOA Commissions leading the negotiating process. The workshop was attended by representatives of the following governments of the Region: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Togo and Senegal. In addition, the National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS) contributed to the workshop with technical materials.

 

Background documents prepared for the workshop, as well as the presentations made, a list of participants and a report are available below.

 

Background Documents

 

  1. Trade Negotiations in the Western African Region: Issues for Consideration

  2. West Africa EPA Negotiations: Preliminary comments on the EC "Draft EPA text for West Africa"

  3. Fact Sheet 1: Understanding the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs)

  4. Fact sheet 2: The Value of EU Preferences for the ACP and EPA contribution to Market Access

  5. Fact Sheet 3: Trade liberalisation and the difficult shift towards reciprocity in the EPAs

  6. Fact Sheet 4: Regional Integration and the EPAs

  7. Fact Sheet 6: Aid for Trade and Financial Assistance to implement the EPAs

  8. The Development dimension of the WTO Agricultural Negotiations

 

Presentations

 

  1. Overview of EPA negotiations in West Africa and the next steps

  2. Comments on the West Africa-EC agreed EPA architecture and preliminary comments to the EC Western Africa EPA draft text

  3. EPA negotiations on agricultural market access

  4. EPA tariff elimination and the challenge of industrialisation of West Africa

  5. Considerations regarding trade in Services in the context of West Africa’s EPA

  6. Compatibility between EPAs and the WTO

  7. Aid for Trade linkages with EPA capacity building and accompanying measures

  8. Overview of EPA negotiations in other ACP regions and the EU internal negotiating process

  9. Next steps: EPA deadlines, negotiating strategies and fallback positions

 

Report

 

EPA negotiations in the Western African region: Way Forward

 

List of Participant

 

© 2006, South Centre, Geneva, Switzerland