Nairobi — The East African Business Council and TradeCom Facility have agreed to work together to strengthen the role of East African private sector in East African Community--European Union Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations.

Under the partnership, EABC will run a programme that will improve private sector awareness of the EAC-EU EPA (Economic Partnership Agreement) negotiations and also strengthen its participation in trade policy formulation.

The EU has been negotiating EPA with African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries since September 2002 with the aim of replacing non-reciprocal trade preferences granted under the Cotonou Agreement.

EPAs are structured to introduce reciprocity to trade arrangement between EU and developing nations as per World Trade Organisation requirements.

Charles Mbogori, Executive Director of EABC, told The EastAfrican that the cooperation will further strengthen the regional capacity to engage the private sector on EPA negotiation issues.

Mr Mbogori said the development of a healthy private sector in East Africa cannot be achieved if the region does not maximise on the benefits of EPA negotiations.

"EABC will increasingly play an instrumental role in private sector awareness, and in developing position papers and policy briefs that will feed into EPA negotiations," said Mr Mbogori.

He added that the private sector cannot play a meaningful role in trade negotiations without adequate skills on the technical aspects of the negotiations.

Current EAC-EPA negotiations are supposed to be concluded by July 31 but such outstanding issues as rules of origin, most favoured nations clause, agriculture, trade in services and sustainable development are yet to be concluded.

The Interim Framework on Economic Partnership Agreement (FEPA) signed in November 2007 by EAC and European Commission (EC) however contains a clause that provides areas for future negotiations.

The EC market access offer, under FEPA, consists of duty free and quota free access to imports from the EAC partner states except for rice and sugar, for which a transitional arrangement has been put in place.

On the other hand, the EAC market access offer to the EU consists of 82 per cent liberalisation of imports from the EU over a twenty five-year transition period.

The TradeCom Facility programme therefore looks to build on the gains made at current negotiations and also set stage for future negotiations.

The programme will therefore establish constructive public private sector dialogue that will inform government officials on the needs of the private sector.

It will also build on the successes already registered by EPA trade in services programme supported by International Lawyers and Economists Against Poverty (ILEAP).

The TradeCom Facility, is an African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group Programme financed by the European Development Fund established to provide and coordinate trade-related technical assistance to ACP countries.

It aimed at consolidating, and even creating, where absent, the necessary capacity that would enable ACP countries to craft trade policies with a view to achieving sustainable development, poverty reduction and successful integration into the global trading system.