Africa risk losing tax-free access to europe says EU Official

The European Union said African nations could loose tax-free access to exports to the EU if they do not sign an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) deal to replace those rejected by the World Trade Organisation by next year.

African countries have already missed two deadlines, the last one in November 1 2010. The negotiations resumed in 2011 and Vital Moreira, the chairman of the EU Parliament's International Trade Committee, insist that this is Africa's last chance.

The new deadline has been set for December 31, 2013 and the European commission is under pressure from WTO, which insists that preferential trade agreements are illegal, as well as its European lobbyists who fear that the availability of more African products would hurt Europe's farming and manufacturing sectors.

After the new deadline, unless the deal is not signed countries like Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya - who do not enjoy the Least Developed Countries (LDC) status - will have to start paying duty of between 8.5 and 15.7 percent on their exports to Europe.

Flower exports from Kenya account for nearly half of the country's horticulture export earnings and the east African country is the second biggest source of foreign exchange.

Kenya's main concern during the negotiations was the opposition to Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) coming from the Least Developed Countries (LDC) status in East African countries, such as Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda.