A regional meeting on Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) is held from Jan. 29 to Feb. 2 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Fasso.

This meeting is aimed at adopting a common West African position in anticipation of trade negotiations between African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries and the European Union (EU) planned for next April.

Organized under the theme of "handling sensitive products in trade liberalization in West Africa: the stakes and methodological approach," this regional meeting is bringing together about a hundred experts from the two regional institutions, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), from both the private sector and the civil society of around 15 countries.

Jointly organized by ECOWAS and WAEMU, the meeting has the objective of preparing a new trade agreement with the EU.

During the five-day conference, the experts will come up with a negotiation policy as well as a list of sensitive products.

They will also determine the strategies, the tools and the appropriate structural actions within the framework of future negotiations on EPAs between ACP and EU.

"The region cannot enter into this agreement without determining the sensitive products beforehand," explained ECOWAS commission president Gilles Hounkpatin.

The EPAs were on the agenda during the 21st meeting of ECOWAS' heads of state and government, which took place on Jan. 19 in Ouagadougou.

The EPAs will regulate economic relations between the EU and ACP countries at the beginning of 2010, when the current "Cotonou agreements" expires.

Source: Xinhua