Senegal refuses to sign EU-ACP trade pact

DAKAR – Senegal’s President Abdoulaye Wade said his country like others would not sign a new trade pact proposed by the European Union for poor African, Caribbean and Pacific nations, local radio reported.

The European Commission and the 78 African, Caribbean and Pacific Rim countries making up the so-called ACP group are struggling to clinch new agreements by the end of the year, when current preferential trade conditions expire. According to private Senegalese radio station RFM, Wade denounced the pacts proposed by the EU to ACP countries to replace preferential trade agreements that Europeans have traditionally given their former colonies.”I say that Senegal will not sign these accords,” Wade said, noting that they have been rejected by the regional group of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).Early last month, the 15-nation ECOWAS had announced that it was not ready to conclude the trade pacts “in their current state.”Faced with this refusal, Wade said the EU was seeking to sign separate accords with each country.”I will not sign a separate pact,” Wade said.On Friday, Sierra Leone said it was ready to sign a new trade agreement.The EU says it has “intermediate” agreements with Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Mozambique.However, the proposed trade pact has been rejected by many countries and international organisations, fearing the effects on the poor ACP nations.The new agreements would require ACP countries to gradually open their markets to European goods in exchange for open access to European markets from January 1 2008, with the exception of rice and sugar.Existing trade agreements giving preferential market access to the former colonies have to be replaced by the end of the year because the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has ruled that they were illegal.The EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson last week acknowledged that some regions in the ACP might not be ready to sign full deals or even framework agreements by the end of the year deadline.Nampa-AFPAccording to private Senegalese radio station RFM, Wade denounced the pacts proposed by the EU to ACP countries to replace preferential trade agreements that Europeans have traditionally given their former colonies.”I say that Senegal will not sign these accords,” Wade said, noting that they have been rejected by the regional group of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).Early last month, the 15-nation ECOWAS had announced that it was not ready to conclude the trade pacts “in their current state.”Faced with this refusal, Wade said the EU was seeking to sign separate accords with each country.”I will not sign a separate pact,” Wade said.On Friday, Sierra Leone said it was ready to sign a new trade agreement.The EU says it has “intermediate” agreements with Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Mozambique.However, the proposed trade pact has been rejected by many countries and international organisations, fearing the effects on the poor ACP nations.The new agreements would require ACP countries to gradually open their markets to European goods in exchange for open access to European markets from January 1 2008, with the exception of rice and sugar.Existing trade agreements giving preferential market access to the former colonies have to be replaced by the end of the year because the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has ruled that they were illegal.The EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson last week acknowledged that some regions in the ACP might not be ready to sign full deals or even framework agreements by the end of the year deadline.Nampa-AFP