Africa - Economic Partnership Agreement</b>

Citation

(2007), "Africa - Economic Partnership Agreement</b>", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 20 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2007.06220eab.006

Africa - Economic Partnership Agreement</b>

AfricaEconomic Partnership Agreement

A proposed Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the eastern and southern African countries (ESA) and the European Union (EU) is currently under negotiation. The final agreement to be signed in December 2007 could have a profound impact on areas of health and health services. Recognising this, in this report we examine the health implications of this proposed EPA between the ESA and the EU.

The report aims to inform government, civil society, parliaments and professionals working in health and in trade. It examines: the key areas of the EPA; the health implications of the EPA, specifically in terms of health inputs (examining food security) and health services (examining organisation of health services, health workers, and access to medicines); the options that countries have to protect health in the current EPA; and general issues and principles for protecting health in negotiating the EPA.

The 16 ESA countries negotiating with the EU do not have legal status as a bloc. Unlike the EU, they do not have a formal structure of decision making, nor an operational bureaucracy. They do not match country membership of existing regional trade areas, like Southern African Development Community (SADC) or Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), even though COMESA is supporting the negotiations. This configuration can only be for negotiating purposes as at the end of the negotiations the EU will have to sign an EPA with a customs union, even as it is unclear which this will be. At present, this lack of clear correspondence with current regional arrangements weakens the integration of regional protocols, programmes and capacities in the negotiations and in the protection of health within the EPA. Nevertheless the ESA-EU EPA must also comply with prevailing regional health protocols and standards, such as the SADC Health protocol and various SADC Charters.

EPA negotiations are conducted in six clusters: development issues; market access; agriculture; fisheries; trade in services; and trade-related issues.

The negotiations will be concluded by December 2007. The EPA covers: trade cooperation and trade related issues, including trade in services and fisheries; economic, development and development finance cooperation; institutional framework and final provisions; and dispute settlement.

For more information: www.equinetafrica.org