EU–ACP Samoa Partnership Agreement

Partnership Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Members of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States, of the other part (2023/2862)

Update

The Samoa Agreement, establishing a legal framework for relations between the EU and Members of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), applies from 1 January 2024. The Agreement sets out the commitments of both sides to address global challenges, including economic growth and sustainable development. It focuses on human rights and democracy, peace and security, human/social development, sustainable economic growth, climate change, and migration. The Samoa Agreement is not a trade deal, so does not include trade arrangements such as import duties and quotas. However, it does set out basic principles for trade cooperation.

What is changing?

The Samoa Agreement covers EU relations with 79 OACPS Member States: 48 African, 16 Caribbean, and 15 Pacific. It establishes common principles in the following six priority areas:

• democracy and human rights
• sustainable economic growth and development
• climate change
• human and social development
• peace and security
• migration and mobility.

As it is not a trade deal, the Agreement does not set out specific arrangements, such as import tariffs/quotas, for improving agricultural trade. These are negotiated separately under Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) (see Background). The Samoa Agreement emphasises the importance of fully implementing these EPAs, taking into account the different levels of development among ACP countries. The trade cooperation foreseen in the Agreement (Title IV, Ch. 4) includes encouraging intra-ACP regional trade, and cooperating to ensure that food regulations do not create unnecessary obstacles to trade. In particular, the Agreement emphasises the need for cooperation on the management of antimicrobial resistance and animal welfare (Art. 52).

Why?

Relations between the EU and ACP countries were previously governed by the Cotonou Agreement, adopted in 2000, which was initially due to expire in 2020. The application of the Cotonou Agreement was extended while the Samoa Agreement was under negotiation. The scope of the Partnership Agreement has been updated to reflect new global challenges.

Timeline

The Agreement provisionally applies from 1 January 2024. It will enter into force fully once it has European Parliament consent and is ratified by the Parties (all EU Member States and at least two thirds of OACPS Member States).

Background

There are currently seven EPAs covering 32 of the 79 OACPS Member States. For more information, see the European Commission webpage Economic Partnerships. In addition, some ACP countries not involved in EPAs have preferential access to the EU under the generalised system of tariff preferences [see Review of generalised scheme of tariff preferences (GSP)].

Sources