The Secretariat of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States

Following the adoption by the European Union of the Council Regulation (EC) No. 1528/2007 of 20 December, applying the arrangements for products originating in certain states which are part of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States - provided for in agreements establishing or leading to the establishments of Economic Partnership Agreements - the ACP Group expresses its satisfaction that for most of its states, trade disruption between the two parties has been averted.

For the remaining non-LDC ACP states that did not sign the interim EPAs and for whom the regulation does not apply, the ACP calls upon the EC to ensure that all measures are taken to guarantee the continuation of trade on the same terms so that the economic operators remain in the market and the welfare and well being of the citizens of the ACP states concerned are not jeopardized. These states are Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Gabon ( Africa) and Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Marshall Islands and Tonga (Pacific).

The ACP Group notes that for some of its regions and states, the interim agreements were initialed under the pressure of time and that there are some contentious clauses which will require revisiting when finalizing full EPAs, as noted by the declaration issued at the 86 th Session of the ACP Council of Ministers on 13 December 2008.

The ACP Group congratulates the Caribbean region for successfully concluding a complete EPA. The ACP Group recalls the commitment of other regions to conclude full EPAs in accordance with their developments needs and aspirations.

In this regard, the ACP would like to thank in particular all the European Union Members States which have continued to support the ACP Group in this process and whose contribution led to the adoption of Regulation 1528/2007. The implementation of the regulation, if applied with adequate flexibility, will result in duty and quota free access to the EU market of all ACP products (with the exception of sugar and rice which are subject to transitional arrangements). The ACP Group further thanks the European Commission for its role and calls upon its European Partners to remain fully engaged in the negotiations for the remaining aspects of the EPAs with a view to ensuring that EPAs truly become instruments of development for the ACP States to assist in efforts of poverty reduction and enhancement of living conditions of their peoples.

Brussels, 17 January 2007