Under the Cotonou Agreement, both the ACP and the EU agreed to negotiate new development-oriented trading arrangements that are compatible with the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The negotiations of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) have started on 27 September 2002. EPAs should enter into force by January 2008 at the latest. If necessary, alternative trade arrangements should be provided for.
The wide range of trade negotiations facing the ACP countries (i.e. at regional, ACP-EU and multilateral levels) puts huge pressure on the scarce trade negotiating resources in most ACP countries. Access to relevant information and analysis is a key first step in this process.
With this in mind, the ACP-EU Trade website
www.acp-eu-trade.org was launched in September 2002 to coincide with the start of the EPA negotiations on new trade arrangements between the ACP countries and the EU.
