More time needed for EPA talks - Motlhale

With persuasion from the EU and a December 2007 deadline for negotiations having already elapsed, efforts towards a comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) are being accelerated. In June, the SADC EPA group committed itself to finalising and signing the full EPA by the end of this year.

The group also committed itself to presenting a united front to the EU, marking a departure from the divisions that occurred last June when four out of the seven-nation group signed an interim EPA with the EU.