§ Mrs. EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent assessment he has made of the impact of WTO rules on the workings of the Lomé Convention. [107468]
§ Mr. Caborn[holding answer 2 February 2000]: The Government are aware that the tariff preferences available under the Lomé Convention are incompatible with the rules of the WTO in so far as they discriminate between developing countries and thus require a waiver from GATT Article I. The current waiver expires in February 2000 along with the Convention itself and will have to be renewed by agreement with other WTO member governments for the preferences to continue. We strongly support the WTO, which is why we argued for a new, WTO-compatible approach to EU trade relations with Lomé countries after the current Convention expires.
Both the EU and our Lomé partners have agreed in principle with this approach, which will enter into force after a transitional period of eight years, during which time the current trade arrangements will be rolled over, and a new WTO waiver sought for this rollover period. The Government believe that this approach will give Lomé countries the best chance of integrating more fully into the multilateral trading system, thereby promoting their sustainable development and contributing to poverty eradication.