Consultation of Churches from Eastern and Southern Africa
on Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs)

Dear friends,

We have good news from the Churches of Eastern and Southern Africa and their commitment towards EPAs.

The leaders of different churches of Eastern and Southern Africa met in Dar-es-Salaam the 23-25th April 2007. As an outcome of this meeting a platform for Christians under AACC, FECCLAHA, FOCCISA and AMECEA to engage in EPAs was created.

A statement was released at the end of the Dar meeting that has received a lot of media attention.

The Churches are beginning to be proactive on EPAs. The Dar meeting recognised the urgency of stopping EPAs and called for a speedy action towards governments as well as the EU. The churches demanded more time (some kind of extension of the 31st Dec 2007 deadline), a more inclusive process in the negotiation of EPAs, respect for national sovereignty and seeking more sustainable alternatives to the so called EPAs.

I am sending you their press release.

Salutations
Begoña

Africa-Europe Faith and Justice Network (AEFJN)
174 rue Joseph II
B-1000 Brussels - Belgium
Tel. +32. (0)2. 34 68 12
Fax: +32 (0) 2. 231 14 13
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held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from April 23rd to April 25th 2007

We, the leaders, representatives and members of seven Councils of Churches from
Southern and Eastern Africa and the Catholic church through the Association of Member
Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA), meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania,
from April 23rd to April 25th 2007, to deliberate and discuss the Economic Partnership
Agreements (EPAs) between the European Union and the African Caribbean and Pacific
countries:

Affirm and support the protection of the livelihoods, the respect of human rights and
upholding human dignity of the people in our countries. Any kind of economic policy including
international trade policies should be first and foremost geared towards sustainable
development and equitable growth, which benefit the people.

We subscribe to the following principles:
- International trade must serve the people rather than the profit
- International trade must be fair and just.
- International trade must not be oppressive.
The Bible requires of all people and institutions to act justly. Micah: 6:8. We therefore believe
that the multilateral trading system and the institutions involved in the current EPA
negotiations should adhere to justice in all it forms, taking into consideration its impact on all
citizens, particularly the poor.

After studying and analysing the current EPA negotiations, we come to the conclusion that
they are not in line with our principles. On the contrary, they are a threat to the well-being of
our people and our economic development.

While we appreciate the development objectives of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement, we
are mindful that in the current negotiations the European Union and our governments have
lost sight of these objectives.

Instead, EPAs have turned out to be free trade agreements, which will have a detrimental
impact on our agriculture and food security, infant industries as well as natural resources. In
addition, they will lead to a loss of tax revenue that is earned from duties on imported goods.
EPAs ignore and will further undermine regional integration initiatives by the African Union.
Ultimately, EPAs in many cases contradict national development goals and policies.
Although the Cotonou Agreement enshrined the involvement of all stakeholders, EPA
negotiations have not taken into account the voices and the concerns of the people affected.

We call upon our governments and the European Union to consider the following
options:
Policy space and national sovereignty:
If EPAs are implemented in their current state they would restrict our governments¡¦ ability to
pursue their own development strategies. EPA negotiations should therefore be aligned to
national democratic processes such as parliamentary ratification.

Alternatives:
We urge the our governments and the European Union to consider alternatives to EPAs as
indicated in the Cotonou Agreement. Such alternatives should not be oppressive, but instead
be fair and just and serve the people.

Inclusiveness:
The current negotiations have largely included the government negotiators and the European
Commission leaving out other crucial stakeholders such as the citizens and their
representatives in the parliaments. For EPAs to be legitimate we appeal for the inclusion of
all stakeholders into the negotiation process.

More time:
The deadline for concluding EPA negotiations is December 31st 2007. However, the people
of our countries don¡¦t have sufficient information and understanding to support this decision.
We, therefore, note that more time is required and ask for an extension of the deadline for
the negotiations. This would give our governments the opportunity to initiate a participatory
impact assessment and include development and benchmarks in the negotiations.

In affirming our role in ensuring that our governments adhere to commitments and
responsibilities towards the well-being of their citizens, we further challenge and are ready to
support our governments in seeking suitable options that are centered on human values and
foster sustainable development.
We call upon the ACP and EU Ministers and parliamentarians to take into consideration our
concerns and principles when they meet.1
We, as churches together with other Civil Society organisations, commit ourselves to engage
more actively to work at the regional and African level on this issue.
Dar es Salaam, April 25th 2007

The following organisations participated in the meeting:
All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC)
Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA)
Building Eastern Africa Community Network (BEACON)
Catholic Economic Justice (CEJ)
Christian Council of Mozambique (CCM)
Christian Council of Tanzania (CCT)
Christian Council of Zambia (CCZ)
Christian Professionals of Tanzania (CPT)
1 Joint Council of Ministers on May 24th/25th 2007 in Brussels, Belgium and ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary
Assembly on June 23rd/28th in Wiesbaden, Germany 3
Economic Justice Network (EJN) of the Fellowship of Christian Councils of Churches in
Southern Africa (FOCCISA)
Ecumenical Service for Socio-Economic Transformation (ESSET)
Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in the Great Lakes and the Horn of Africa
(FECCLAHA)
Kenya Episcopal Conference (KEC)
Malawi Council of Churches (MCC)
Missionaries of Africa (MAFR)
National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK)
Tanzania Ecumenical Dialogue Group (TEDG)
The Journey
Uganda Episcopal Conference (UEC)
Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC)
Ecumenical partners:
Bread for the World
Church Development Service (EED)
Christian Aid
ICCO
Norwegian Church Aid