There’s no January deadline for EPA deal, CS Mohamed

The Ministry of Trade and Industrialization has rubbished claims of a January deadline for the East African Community to sign a trade partnership deal with the European Union.

The EAC heads of state were scheduled to hold the Heads of State Summit in early January but that has been put off until mid February.

The regional trading bloc was expected to use the summit to get a way forward on whether to sign the economic partnership agreement (EPA) with the EU after years of back and forth negotiations.

Trade Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed however said there was no timeline set with the European Union as to when the deal will be signed, despite having already missing the October 2016 deadline.

“I want to e very clear that there is no January deadline to sign (EPA),” Mr Mohamed said on the sidelines of the ongoing CCAfrica Food Standards conference.

Kenya is the only member of the East African Community that stands to lose with trade restrictions being imposed by the EU.

According to Mr Mohamed, presidents of the five EAC countries are yet to agree on a suitable date to hold the meeting.

“The heads of state summit will happen at the right time when the diaries of the heads of states will allow. That (EPA) will be discussed at the summit,” he said, while responding to journalists.

The European Union had in October said it would allow for extended negations between the five partner states that now appear to behind schedule.

Only Kenya and Rwanda have signed and ratified the EPA deal.

The government has in the past said the decision to ratify the deal will enable Kenya to continue getting preferential access to the EU even if the other members fail to sign.

Tanzania has been hesitant to sign the deal, arguing it did not favor its interests.