Brussels
8th Negotiating Session of the EPA 04/03/2010
The 8th Negotiating Session of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) was held at the European Commission offices in Brussels from 23 to 24 February 2010. The goal of the meeting was to consider and finalize the outstanding issues before the signing of the Framework Economic Partnership Agreement (FEPA), expected by the end of March 2010. Technical officials from the EAC community met with European Commission officials led by Mr. Thomas Ramos from the Directorate General Trade at the European Commission.
Some of the outstanding issues included; agreeing on the texts touching on export taxes and the Most Favored Nation (MFN) clause. The parties also discussed the format and the content of the development matrix, as well as the text on development cooperation with specific reference to the financing of extra resources required to address supply side constraints.
The parties were able to agree on a roadmap that proposes the finalization of a comprehensive EPA by 31 December 2010.
Kenya’s delegation to the meeting included Ambassador George Owour, MFA and senior officials from the Ministry of Planning, Trade and Agriculture, as well as Kenya Embassy officials.