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{
    "id": 369451,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/369451/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 225,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "However, the Cotonou Agreement is an EPA involving the EU and ACP States. That agreement was signed on 23rd June, 2000 and it was amended for the first and second time on 25th June, 2005 and 19th March, 2010. It is a successor of what we call the Lome Convention and it is executed through EPAs. That is how trade agreements are signed between ACP and EU. But those EPAs are supposed to replace the non-reciprocal preferences that the EU currently grants to the ACP group with a reciprocal preferential scheme that conforms to the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. I know this may all sound like jargon but if you hear me out, you will understand why I am making the proposal. The EPAs are between the EU and blocs of ACP countries that are members of the regional trading arrangements like the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the East African Community (EAC) and it informs the EU’s dealing with the 79 developing countries drawn from ACP. One of the trade agreements they have is the one they call “everything but arms (EBA)”. This EBA initiative is usually done for the least developed countries (LDCs). The LDCs are able to export their products to the EU duty free and they can export anything but arms. Kenya is the only non-LDC in the EA region. All the other members of the EAC are classified as LDC. However, not all member States of the Cotonou Agreement have fully ratified that partnership. So, despite sustained pressure from the EU Commission, Kenya and, the EA partner States have refused or have not yet signed the EPAs in their current form. I want to emphasize that I am not here trying to say: “Do not sign at all!” We are saying “in their current form”; as they are right now. The agreements offer contentious aspects that give the EU undue advantage over Kenya. That has seen negotiations start and stop on the agreements over the years. In the EA, the regional partnership seeks to work with partners and members of the EAC; Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania."
}