Middle-income countries need EPAs, says EC official

Lena Sund, head of political, trade and information section of the Delegation of the EC in Botswana and SADC told the  Botswana Confederation of Commerce, Industry and Manpower (BOCCIM) workshop on Tuesday that if no EPA is signed, the EU General Scheme of Preferenties will apply. This means that African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) group of states will have to pay the same tariffs as Latin American and Asian countries.

Sund pointed out that The EU has shown its support to ACP countries under initiatives such as the 9th European Development Fund. This is a specific 6.5 million Euro EPA support facility meant to facilitate negotiations and preparations. Fund said that another package of 80 million Euro supports customs modernisation, standards and quality assurance, food safety, finance and investment and trade services within SADC.