Archived press release

Stop these unfair trade talks, say campaigners

1 March 2007

Today, 1^st March 2007, the EU Commissioner for Trade, Peter Mandelson, will be meeting trade ministers from African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries in Brussels to review negotiations on Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). EPAs are Europe's proposed free trade deals with these developing countries.

The European Commission is demanding that these trade deals are signed by the end of 2007, when the existing preferential trade access for ACP countries to European markets expires. Friends of the Earth has expressed serious concerns over the lack of transparency surrounding these negotiations and the negative impact that they would have upon developing country economies and environment.

Friends of the Earth Trade Campaigner Joe Zacune said:

"European member states, including the UK, are pushing unfair trade deals upon some of the world's poorest countries, which favour EU companies. If promises on sustainable development are to be met, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, these negotiations must be halted. They threaten small-scale farmers and industries with direct and unfair competition from European companies, which would cause mass unemployment and deepen poverty.

"The deals also include issues that have already been rejected by developing countries at the WTO, such as new investment rules that would open up and deregulate fishery, forestry, oil and mining sectors. We need to develop an alternative approach that allows poor countries to make their own decisions on issues such as agriculture, investment and environmental protection."

Notes

Peter Mandelson is meeting is the EU's Joint Ministerial Trade Committee (JMTC)

Friends of the Earth has co-hosted events at the World Social Forum in Nairobi in January 2007 and at the Nyeleni, the World Forum for Food Sovereignty in Mali in February 2007 on EPAs. The stop EPA campaign is supported by civil society organisations, social movements and farmers unions that are unequivocally calling for an immediately halt to the current negotiations due to their unfair nature and the likely negatives impact that these deals would have on employment, poverty and natural resources.

1) For more information on EPAs see the Friends of the Earth report, "Corporate Conquest: Why the UK and its EU Partners must stop forcing Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) upon developing countries".
www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/corporate_conquest.pdf (PDF)

2) www.epa2007.org

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust