Gov’t will support ECOWAS decision on EPA – Hannah Tetteh
Government says Ghana has no position on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) yet.
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Foreign Affairs Minister, Hannah Tetteh says government will support any decision by the ECOWAS leadership on the EPA.
“It’s not a question of what is Ghana’s stance because this is an ECOWAS decision. Either we all agree or we don’t agree,” she said.
Heads of State in the sub-region are currently meeting in Ivory Coast to among other things, take a position on the EPA which will open their respective country markets to the European for free trade.
Civil society groups in Ghana have petitioned President John Mahama not to sign the partnership arguing that it will be detrimental to Ghana’s development.
The Trades and Industry Minister, Haruna Iddrisu subsequently urged the concerned groups and organizations to be assured that government will protect the interest of Ghana regarding the signing on to the EPA.
Ms Tetteh said the decision lies with the ECOWAS leaders and not just Ghana alone saying, “we can’t have a single country position. That is the whole thing about having a regional agreement. We must have a regional consensus.”
The EPA allows countries to export goods to the EU without tariffs or maximum quotas, under World Trade Organization rules.
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The European Parliament has granted the African countries an extension until October 2014 to ratify their interim EPAs.