Kenya to press for EU trade deal signature before deadline

Kenya said on Thursday that talks with neighboring East African Community countries on the signing of an Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU remained on course and a deal was likely within two weeks.

Foreign Affairs and International Trade Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed told journalists in Nairobi that discussions were headed for conclusion.

"We are talking with all our neighbors. We have two weeks," Mohamed said.

A visiting parliamentary delegation from the European Parliament proposed that Kenya should seek an extension of its export opportunities with the EU through the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), which allows developing countries an opportunity to trade with the EU duty-free.

Kenya has ruled out the possibility of seeking an extension of the export window under the GSP with the European Union, saying the discussions on the signing of the economic partnership agreement (EPA) were continuing.

There are fears if the deadline of Oct. 1 for signing the agreement elapses, Kenyan exporters of horticulture crops to the EU, whose exports account for 38 percent of the European horticultural market, would be forced to pay duty on the exports, which would make their produce too expensive to sell.

"We are headed to the signing of an EPA. We are not thinking about any other thing on the table. We are thinking EPA, EPA,EPA," Mohamed told reporters.

Mohamed, currently chairing a meeting of trade ministers from 194 countries around the world, did not comment on the growing impasse over the signing of the agreement.

Kenya and four other neighboring states, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania, have been negotiating with the EU on the terms of signing the new trade agreement with the EU.

Kenya is desperate to have the agreement signed to save an export market which brings 650 million U.S. dollars to the Kenyan economy every year from horticulture exports.

Tanzania, one of the five countries due to sign the trade agreement, announced it would not sign the deal because of certain concerns.

Diplomatic sources say Tanzania is concerned about the exit of Britain from the EU. The Tanzanian government is reportedly arguing that the EPA negotiations took place with the British membership of the EU as part of the plan.

The trade deal signing impasse intensified Wednesday after the EU Parliamentary delegation visiting Kenya to attend the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development announced that Burundi would not qualify for consideration as a beneficiary of the trade agreement because of the EU sanctions.

Marie Arena, a member of the EU Parliamentary Committee on International Trade, said in Nairobi that the EU sanctions against Burundi, would make it harder for the Parliament to approve the free trade deal. Endit