Cameroon set for decisive EU trade deal

Officials charged with the follow up the agreement say other countries of the sub region will only join the train moving.

Cameroon is set to enter a decisive trade deal with the European Union in August 4, 2016. This follows the ratification of the agreement by Cameroon of an interim agreement which provides a sustainable guarantee of free access to European market for any product originating from Cameroon.

This, according to government officials will foster trade and the diversification of Cameroon’s economic activities.

The Secretary General in the Ministry of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Jean Tchoffo, who doubles as the President of the Committee in charge of the Follow-up of the Implementation of the Bilateral Economic Partnership Agreement Between Cameroon and the European Union, says Cameroon is full of potentials.

The committee met in its 13th session on June 6, 2016, to endorse the rules of origin prior to the entry into force on August 4, 2016, of the interim EPA between Cameroon and the EU.

The country’s cocoa and banana amongst others, sell, and protecting them through such a trade deal was important. The EPA, he argued, comes to reawaken competitiveness on the part of the country’s entreprises. The challenge is that of meeting international norms, it was stated.

Officials however, say government is willing to support companies, citing the Entreprise Upgrading Centre that has been put in place for the purpose.

The EPA is ushering in a new era in relations between Cameroon and the EU, both parties hold, stressing that it is one of the main coopeartion tools to provide assistance to developing countries such as Cameroon in expanding their economies.

It is already two months into the provisional application of the interim agreement with the view of an EPA between the European community and Cameroon, and officials stress that there is no turning back.

Cameroon is ready for the EPA, Jean Tchoffo stressed. August 4, 2016 is therefore the date and customs mobilisation will certainly witness a drop, he stated.

In Central Africa, Cameroon is the EU's leading trade partner and this concerns both the country's imports (35%) and exports (46%).

The EU's main exports to Cameroon are industrial goods, vehicles, chemical products and medicines. Cameroon's main exports to the EU are petroleum products, aluminium, wood and agricultural products.

Agricultural exports are varied and include raw products (cocoa, coffee, banana, rubber) and processed products (cocoa-based products, processed fruit and vegetable products).