Negotiations on trade issues have to be arranged between the EU and the ACP countries with the aim of establishing new agreements by the end of 2007, an official from Brussels said. At a seminar attended buy around 30 business people organised by the Agricultural Trade Forum and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung this week, Ivano Casella, who is EU coordinator for Southern Africa, said SADC countries were on an equal footing and the EU would not prescribe which details should be concluded. Namibia wants to have the 8 % import duty for its table grapes to Europe abolished as only 900 tonnes may enter the EU duty free. Namibia exports some 8000 t of grapes to Europe each year. According to Casella, fish and fish products will also be negotiated. Next week a senior EU-SADC trade meeting will take place in Botswana. ON 1 January 2008, all new agreements must be in place. African countries are not happy that EU countries subsidise their agricultural production, thus blocking imports from developing countries.

Namibia has opted together with a majority of SADC countries, to negotiate the EPA (Economic Partnership Agreement) under the umbrella of SADC. These negotiations have officially started last year, when they were launched in Windhoek in July 2004. The new agreements will try to take into account the specialities of each ACP country, but also the regional aspects. They are, therefore, not only an issue of North/South relationship, but aim also to improve South/South trade.