East Africa refuses to sign unfair trade deal with Europe

A full Economic Partnership Agreement between East Africa and the European Union was expected to be signed earlier this month at a meeting of negotiators in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. However, agreement could not be reached on the controversial trade deal.Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda initialled the deal under strong pressure from the EU in 2007, but since then have resisted signing a full agreement over concerns it could harm the region’s fragile economies.

In the run up to the Dar es Salaam meeting, civil society groups across East Africa stepped up their campaigning to voice fierce opposition to the agreement. They fear the deal as it currently stands will have devastating impacts on jobs, government revenue and food security by forcing countries to open up their economies too fast and too soon. There is particular concern about the dairy industry, a key sector in the region, which could be thrown in to direct competition with subsidised imports from the European Union.

Europe is keeping up the pressure on African countries to sign, but Tanzania's trade minister has said that the East African Community will not budge unless Brussels gives firm commitments on development aid to compensate for the expected loss of revenue. However, African civil society groups have urged their governments “to guard against being stampeded into far-reaching and irreversible commitments by the promise of funds.”

Moira Nash, Head of Campaigns at Traidcraft says: “Given the huge pressure the EU has been piling on developing countries to sign up to these deals it’s fantastic that the East African Community has stood its ground. UK campaigners who’ve continued calling for these deals to be halted and revised should be truly encouraged. The EU should pause and listen to what developing countries are saying.” A new deadline for concluding the deal has been set for November 2010. Traidcraft, with other civil society groups across Europe and Africa, continue to oppose these deals which pose a threat to the livelihoods of some of the world’s most vulnerable people.