§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to urge the EU to increase trade with Southern African countries, particularly with regard to farm products. [37563]
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§ Mr. Doug HendersonIn discussions with EU partners on a draft mandate for the renegotiation of the Lomé Convention, we will press for a new trade regime which helps promote the full integration of southern African economies into the world trading system. We will support measures to help these countries increase their capacity to produce and export. We will also press for the elimination of tariffs on goods from Least Developed Countries. In parallel negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement with South Africa, we are pushing for a generous outcome which will boost trade in both directions.
§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to ask the EU to reduce import taxes on goods from Southern Africa. [37564]
§ Mr. Doug HendersonUnder the current Lomé Convention (which expires in 2000), all industrial goods and a wide range of agricultural products from southern Africa already enter the EU tariff-free. Most other agricultural exports receive preferential access. Negotiations on a successor Convention, including new trade arrangements, begin in September 1998; the EU mandate for these negotiations is under discussion in Brussels. The EU is negotiating a Free Trade Agreement with South Africa which does not benefit from the Lomé trade provisions.