UPDATE ON SWAZI-EU EPANEGOTIATIONS

UNCLAS MBABANE 000036


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON ETRD WZ
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON SWAZI-EU EPANEGOTIATIONS


1. SUMMARY: The Government of te Kingdom of Swaziland (GKOS) is
expected to sign the interim Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)
with the European Union (EU) sometime in February. Swaziland has
been in negotiations with the EU since November 2007, after the GKOS
initialed an interim EPA. The date for signing a comprehensive EPA,
one which includes trade in services and investment, is unknown.
END SUMMARY.


2. GKOS initialled an interim EPA along with Botswana, Lesotho,
Mozambique and Namibia (with concerns) in December 2007. Without
initialling the interim agreement, Swaziland would have been subject
to the Generalized System of Preferences, which is less beneficial
than the interim EPA. Swaziland anticipates signing the interim EPA
this month after the verification process is completed. The
negotiations toward achieving a full EPA are scheduled to continue
this month.


3. COMMENT: Compared to its neighbours, Swaziland's EPA negations
have received little fanfare. In December 2007, the media did some
reporting on EPA negotiations and one or two economic commentators
called for aggressive negotiating positions and warned against
signing but, since then, EPAs have garnered little media attention.
The slow movement on signing is attributable more to bureaucracy
than negotiating difficult issues. Swaziland's poor economic
situation means it needs the preferential access, and 60 million
Euros in development funds, that an EPA agreement brings with it.
End comment.

PARKER