The European Union (EU) has provided trade preferences to the former colonies of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) regions since 1975 but these preferences have been of limited value and found to be incompatible with WTO rules. To continue preferences, economic partnership agreements (EPAs) were established, under which the EU and regional groupings of ACP countries offer reciprocal trade preferences to each other. This volume not only assesses EPAs and the impact on ACP countries, but also provides guidance for ACP negotiators in future negotiations and provides an evaluation of methods used to analyse the impact of trade reforms. In addition to overviews of the content and process of EPAs, estimates of impacts on a range of ACP countries and evaluating how they can contribute to development, these chapters focus on specific negotiating concerns such as legal commitments, adjustment costs, impacts on poverty and food security, and regulatory reforms.

Contents

1. Introduction: EPAs and Prospective Trade Policy Analysis Oliver Morrissey 2. Overview and Comparative Analysis of EPAs Marieke Meyn 3. The Impact of EPAs on ACP Imports and Welfare Oliver Morrissey and Evious Zgovu 4. Adjusting to an EPA: Evidence for Mauritius Chris Milner, Oliver Morrissey and Evious Zgovu 5. Trade and Poverty Impacts for Uganda Ole Boysen and Alan Matthews 6. Trade and Growth Impacts for Kenya Jane Kiringai 7. Import Response to Tariff Reductions in Africa Chris Jones 8. Export Performance of ACP Countries in Perspective Andrew Mold and Annalisa Prizzon 9. EPAs and Food Security Alan Matthews 10. Conclusion: EPAs to Promote ACP Development Oliver Morrissey

Author Bio

Oliver Morrissey is Professor of Development Economics at the University of Nottingham.