Hervé Guyomard, INRA SAE2 Rennes and CEPII Paris. AFD – IFRI Conference, Trade for development: The future of special and differential treatment of ...
Agricultural trade preferences:
The case of EU / ACP-LDC relations
Hervé Guyomard, INRA SAE2 Rennes and CEPII Paris
AFD – IFRI Conference, Trade for development:
The future of special and differential treatment of developping countries,
Paris, October 28, 2005Outline of the presentation
• EU trade preferences (ACP, GSP, EBA)
• EU trade with ACP countries and LDCs
• Assessment of EU trade preferences
• Erosion of preferences
• Basic mechanisms
• Bananas
• SugarTrade preferences of the EU
(developing countries)
• Mediterranean partnerships (Barcelona process)
• ACP preferences
• Generalised System of Preferences (SPG),
including the recent Everything but Arms (EBA)
initiativeTrade preferences of the EU
(developing countries)
• ACP preferences (79 ACP countries)
– Treaty of Rome (1957)
– From Yaoundé I (1969-75) to Lomé IV (1990-2000)
– An increasing number of ACP countries
– Unilateral trade preferences for most ACP exports to the EU
(duty free access)
• Except for agricultural CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) products
• Specific provisions for some agricultural products, notably rice, beef,
sugar and bananas (tariff rate quotas)
•G ATT / W TO w aiverTrade preferences of the EU
(developing countries)
• ACP preferences (79 ACP countries)
– 20-year Cotonou Agreement (2000-20)
• Progressive process to establish a free trade area (Economic
Partnership Agreements)
• GATT / WTO compatible
• Transition period 2000-2007 (protocols on beef, sugar and bananas)Trade preferences of the EU
(developing countries)
• GSP
– Preferential treatment for goods exported by developing
countries (UNCTAD in 1964)
– Enabling Clause of the GATT (from 1979, for an indefinite
period)
– Non-discriminatory (except for LDCs), non-reciprocal and
autonomous trade preferences
– First GSP scheme by the EU in 1971 (quotas and ceilings by
country and product)Trade preferences of the EU
(developing countries)
• GSP
– From 1975, tariff preferences varying according to the
sensitivity of products
– Typically, “exclusion” of agricultural products
– Five GSP arrangements, including general arrangements and
the EBA initiative (2001)Trade preferences of the EU
(developing countries)
• The EBA initiative (49 countries)
– February 2001
– For the 49 LDCs, free and unlimited access to the EU market
but arms and munitions, and 3 agricultural products
– Bananas (January 2006), rice (July 2009) and sugar
(September 2009); during the transition period, duty-free tariff
rate quotas (relatively small quantities):
• For rice, 2517 tonnes (01/02) to 6696 tonnes (08/09)
• For sugar, 74 185 tonnes (01/02) to 197 335 tonnes (08/09)EU trade with ACP countries and LDCs
• ACP countries
– The share of ACP countries in global trade is very small and
decreasing (from 6 % in 1980 to 2 % nowadays)
– Two dependencies: for 50 %, exports to the EU and for 50 %
also, agricultural raw products
– ACP / EU agricultural trade
• exports to the EU relatively stable since the end of the 1990s (9.4
billion US dollars)
• Imports from the EU around 5 billion US dollars (same level in 1995)
• Great disparities (countries, imported and exported products):
commodity dependenceEU trade with ACP countries and LDCs
• LDCs
– Same general picture (commodity dependence, importance
of the EU market)
– Importance of agriculture, production and exports (GDP,
employment, source of foreign exchange)
– Negative agricultural trade balance (700 million US dollars)
– NB. On a total of 49 LDCs, only 9 countries are not ACP
countries (South Asia)