Members of the National Assembly will today end a two-day seminar on Economic Partnership Agreements organised under the theme, “Multilateral commercial system and the way forward in negotiations between the European Union and Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries”.
The Vice President of the National Assembly, Hon. Calvin Foinding while presiding at the opening ceremony of the occasion, said the theme was of great importance as it will enable parliamentarians better understand trade negotiations at the levels of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the European Union and ACP countries. This will improve the know-how of the members of parliament to efficiently legislate on matters of economic partnerships with focus on the positive fallouts on the population. At the end of the Information Days, parliamentarians would have to make recommendations to the government on ways of taking care of the needs of the population in trade and economic partnership agreement.
The members of parliament will by the time the seminar ends this afternoon, acquire knowledge through presentations and debates on the themes; the multilateral commercial system and the cycle of development of Doha, regional integration, stakes and challenges of Economic Partnership Agreements. They will also discuss the economic and trade cooperation between the European Union and the ACP countries within the framework of the Cotonou Agreement and the state of progress in the Economic Partnership Agreements between the European Union and the Central African Sub-region.
Cameroon reached an interim Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union in December 2007. It was put in place to prevent disruption to Cameroon’s exports to the EU after the trade provisions of the Cotonou Agreement expired at the end of that month and provides additional time to negotiate a full regional economic partnership agreement. The interim agreement permitted Cameroon’s main exports such as aluminium, cocoa, bananas and other agricultural products, to still enjoy preferential access to EU markets.
