ECOWAS Meeting on Food Prices

(Press Release)-- Representatives of eight international organizations involved in agricultural development and water resource management have been invited to a one-day extraordinary meeting on Monday of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Ministers of Trade, Agriculture and Finance to discuss the soaring cost of basic food items in West Africa.

Among those invited to the ministerial meeting are the President of the Rome-based International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Nigeria-based International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), an ECOWAS Commission statement received in Accra on Saturday said.

Also invited to the meeting is the President of the Commission responsible for Agriculture, Environment and Development in the ECOWAS Parliament as well as the Ministers responsible for Finance, Agriculture and Trade in Mauritania.

The Commission said the one-day meeting, which would be preceded by that of experts on 18 May, would discuss the various options and propose solutions for mitigating the effect of the spiralling prices on the region’s population.

The expanded meeting will also discuss the status of preparations for the negotiations of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union following the failure of both parties to meet the December 2007 deadline for the signing of the regional agreement.

The Commission said in February 2008, the Ministerial Monitoring Committee (MMC) that coordinated the negotiations for the region met in Nouakchott, Mauritania, and reaffirmed their resolve to conclude a comprehensive, development-oriented and mutually beneficial EPA with the European Union.

They also reiterated their commitment to the realization of the development dimension of the EPA, which should translate into effective implementation of programmes that address the region’s development and resource mobilization concerns.

"In this regard, they underscored the need for the negotiation to be preceded by such activities as improvements of the productive sectors in the agricultural, industrial, cottage industry and service sectors, the development of infrastructure - energy, roads and railways – as well as the upgrading of enterprises. They also envisaged the building of the capacities of the private sector and facilitation of its access to financial resources and compensation for losses of tax revenues."

The Commission said the Ministers then directed the ECOWAS and UEMOA Commissions to assess the net fiscal and economic impact of the EPA and identity priorities in terms of support to the negotiations, with a view to building the region’s offer capacities. (Union Economique et Monétaire Ouest Africaine (UEMOA) is a customs and monetary union between French-speaking West African countries).

"After underscoring the linkage between the Common External Tariff (CET) and the EPA, they agreed that a single tariff regime should be established for the region and reaffirmed the urgent need for the activities on the CET to be completed not later than 30th June 2008."

They further agreed that the comprehensive regional agreement should be concluded by June 2009, at the latest, in line with the schedule adopted in Ouagadougou in December 2007.

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