Don’t Sign the Economic Partnership Agreements!
Stand united, don’t bow to pressure from the European Union!

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Civil Society Statement on the Joint EAC-EC-EPA Ministerial Meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on 7-9 June 2010

Tanzania Trade Coalition.  8th June 2010

As civil society organizations committed to development and the eradication of poverty in Tanzania we call on our government and governments of the East African Community (EAC) to refuse to sign the Economic Partnership Agreements with the European Union.

We urge you not sign the Economic Partnership Agreements, because they will continue to condemn the region and its people to poverty.

• The EAC is not ready for “free trade” with Europe.  The massive difference in the size of our economies, that has been historically created, will not result in mutually beneficial trade, it will mean further European domination.  In the light of this we need to maintain the right to use tariffs and other interventions to develop our existing and new industries in the future.  This is what Europe did and what successful developing countries, such as Mauritius, Botswana, South Korea and China have done.
• The “free trade” Europe is calling for is not in fact free at all and is certainly not fair.  Europe spends 100s of billions of Euros supporting their farmers.  They are not willing to change or negotiate this.  These subsidies lead to dumping of cheap products in our markets threatening the livelihoods of farmers.  It also makes it very difficult to compete in Europe against the local subsidized production.
• Europe used hundreds of billions of Euros to save their banks and other industries during the financial crisis.  These are the same banks they want to have free access to our markets competing with our banks and industries that have no such protection. This kind of government support to industries, that our governments can never afford, makes a mockery of the Europeans stated commitment to “free trade”
• The EAC is still in the process of creating a common market, it must strengthen itself as a trading block before forming a free trade block with Europe.  The experience of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), where some countries signed agreements with Europe and others did not, shows how the European Union will not hesitate to divide us in order to achieve their objectives.
• We must not make concessions to Europe that go beyond anything already agreed in the WTO. Tanzania and other developing countries have stood firm in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations. Now the Europeans are trying to get what they want on many issues they could not get in the WTO.
• Europe is refusing to have development as a binding part of the Economic Partnership Agreement.  It must be part of any agreement, must be binding, must involve new financial commitments – not simply renaming existing aid money – and must never replace the need for trade regimes that will enable our economies to grow. The so called “Aid for Trade” must not become “Aid Instead of Trade”.

There are many problematic clauses in the Economic Partnership Agreements.  We endorse the civil society statement developed on the 2nd June 2010 in Uganda that gives more details on these clauses.  We support our government’s insistence that these be resolved and see no reason to sign a flawed interim agreement with so many outstanding issues.

To take action on EPAs now, click here

Tanzania Trade Coalition.  8th June 2010

For more information contact:
Abubakar M. Ali, Cell: 0777 49 92 34 or Rebeca Muna, Cell: 0754 43 39 12