I would advise ACP countries to look very very closely at the fine print of the EU offer. Their offers to open up agricultural imports usually end up with conditions of you allow access now and we promise to open up our markets later.
If this is what comes out, no dice!
Onésimo Alvarez-Moro
See article:
The European Union yesterday offered to open its huge market fully to poor countries that signed bilateral trade deals this year. Brussels is proposing to scrap tariffs and quotas on sensitive products such as beef, corn, fruit and vegetables for the 78 so-called ACP countries, mostly former colonies in the African, Caribbean and Pacific regions, from January 1 2008.
There are some restrictions - the price of gaining support from states, such as France and Spain, which are sensitive to agricultural imports. Rice trade will be progressively liberalised over the next few years and the sugar market will not be fully open until 2015.
Certain exports from South Africa, which already has a bilateral deal with the EU, would be exempt on the grounds they are already competitive. These include wine and grapes.
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