East African Community (EAC)
RTFP is working with EAC on activities arising from its role as Secretariat to the Tripartite Task Force (of which EAC is a member) and is also bridging a funding gap whilst DFID East Africa awaits final confirmation of its programme of support.
As at August 2008, the work by RTFP focussed on support for the negotiations on the Trade in Services in relation to the negotiation of an EPA with the EU.
In February 2004 Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi joined the ESA-EPA and launched EPA negotiations with the EU whilst Tanzania joined some SADC members in their negotiation process. In due course, however, the EAC chose to negotiate with the EU as a discrete group and consequently negotiations now involve all five countries.
Towards the end of 2007 it was realised that the EPA negotiations would not be finalised before the end of the year and so an ‘Interim’ EPA was signed with the EAC group (so that there would be a legal basis for the further extension of preferential access to the EU market when the WTO waiver expired on 31.12.07). Provision was made for the extended negotiations to include services, investment and cooperation in other trade-related areas such as competition and government procurement. In spite of this though, there is no obligation to negotiate services as part of the full EPA.
In order to assist EAC member States agree on whether or not to negotiate Services as part of their EPA or, if they do incorporate it, to inform their discussions on the content of such an element of the negotiations, RTFP has contracted two consultants from the EAC region.
Work began in late July 2008 with information gathering and ‘gap analysis’ as well as identification of national consultants who will assist with additional work in the countries.
In early August, EAC held a meeting for its EPA negotiators and member States on the Services Sector at which presentations were made by the two consultants. RTFP also financed the attendance of negotiators from other ACP regions (SADC and the Caribbean) who acted as resource persons.
The two consultants will prepare a draft report on domestic regulation using as a basis the draft GATS templates which were prepared for the ESA countries (under another RTFP financed project). Reports will also be prepared on the importance of the Services Sector in each of the EAC countries. Finally recommendations will be prepared for the use of the EPA negotiators.