cuts-AFRICA rESOURCE CENTRE
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About CUTS CITEE CART CHD C-SPAC CUTS-ARC Contact CUTS |
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CUTS-Africa Resource Centre |
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East African Community and the Need for A Regional Trade Agreement Enhancing LDCs Exports to OECD Markets Challenges and Opportunities Capacity Building for WTO Participation African Perspectives US Politics and Free Trade: Trade Policy Options for Africa EVENTS |
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About
the Centre CUTS-Africa Resource Centre (CUTS-ARC), Lusaka, Zambia is the first set up of CUTS outside India. The Centre was inaugurated on 20th February 2001 by Honourable Mr. William Harrington, Acting Minister, Commerce, Trade and Industry, Zambia. Noted persons such as Mr. Ashok K Attri, Indian High Commissioner, Dr. Nicholas Kwendakwema, Chairman, Zambia Competition Commission and Mr. George Lipimile, Executive Director, Zambia Competition Commission attended the ceremony.
The objective of the Centre is to promote South-South civil society cooperation on trade and development and create long-term capacity of civil society representatives to address the issues of equity and accountability. The Centre has been entrusted with the responsibility to consolidate and expand activities of the organisation on south-south civil society co-operation in the areas of trade, economics and environment. CUTS-ARC, in addition to other activities would, work as a resource, co-ordination and networking Centre for the ‘Comparative Study of Competition Regimes of Seven Select Developing Countries of the Commonwealth,’ project, popularly know as the 7-Up project.
CUTS-ARC is a dream come true for CUTS, as it is a big step towards development of closer and intense relationship between two developing regions, viz. Africa and South Asia. CUTS has always advocated for a well-organised and well-developed regional co-ordination system consisting of all organisations working on similar social and economic issues. CUTS-ARC will endeavour to workout such a system for the two developing regions.
Coordination: Currently CUTS-ARC is co-ordinating the activities of the African partners of the 7-Up project, viz. Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania and South Africa. The Centre’s role will be TO MANAGE THE PROCESS OF IMPLEMENTING THE PROJECT by initiating and sustaining liaison with the project partners in all the four countries.
Networking: CUTS-ARC will take up the responsibility of creating, developing and maintaining a vibrant network with all consumer organisations including NGOs, donor agencies, embassies and other statutory bodies in Africa. The Centre will work in close cooperation with regional as well as international bodies like COMESA, SADC, ECOWAS, Consumer International Regional Office for Africa etc.
Mr. Harrington noted that the CUTS initiative to promote South-South civil society cooperation and capacity building on trade and development issues will go a long way in strengthening the bargaining capacity of developing countries on the international trade proscenium. He felicitated CUTS warmly and assured it of all assistance to ensure the success and sustainability of the Resource Centre.
“In today’s dynamic and integrating world the role and importance of civil society in economic governance assumes a greater significance than was case in the past”, Harrington asserted. Speaking on the occasion, India's high commissioner, Ashok Attri noted that CUTS is a leading consumer organisation in India and is recognised internationally. “I have personally interacted with them over the past many years, and am happy to be here as a witness to another milestone in its history. They have done a commendable job so far in the area of consumer protection and competition at the national, regional and international level”. Zambia Competition Commission's Executive Director, George Lipimile, joined in the felicitation and while offering all his help, stated that the consumer movement in Zambia will certainly benefit by this Resource Centre. Mr. Lipimile also noted that governments in the region will also benefit by this new venture.
In welcoming all the guests, the CUTS Secretary General, Pradeep S. Mehta, spoke about the history of CUTS, and how it works at the grassroots up to international levels on several issues of public interest.
Mr. Mehta said that the setting up of the Africa Resource Centre is a dream come true, and they look forward to working closely with the civil society, in particular with consumer organisations and the Consumers International's regional office in Harare, Zimbabwe. “CUTS will also interact closely with governments of the region as well as the COMESA secretariat, and other regional bodies. As Africa is a huge continent, to start with, we will focus mainly on countries of the COMESA and SADC region”, Mehta said.
East
African Community and the Need for A Regional Trade Agreement
During
a summit in Arusha, Tanzania in January 1999, the three Heads of State of Kenya,
Tanzania and Uganda resolved to sign a treaty re-establishing the East African
Community (EAC). The purpose was to achieve a set of developmental objectives
for the three countries as well as to promote trade within the region. It was
expected to improve their economic and political bargaining power by forming a
united entity. In
January 1999, the EAC was reconstituted to achieve a set of developmental
objectives. However, it was not clear what economic and political conditions are
to be taken into account for these objectives to materialise. This Policy Brief examines arguments for a regional trade agreement among members of the EAC and points out the benefits that these countries could draw from such an arrangement. Capacity Building for WTO Participation African Perspectives The World Trade Organisation (WTO)
has emerged as a key organ of governance and management of the globalising world
economy. Its establishment as a forum for continuous negotiations on a range of
trade and trade-related issues is creating new challenges for African countries. An essential requirement of participation in the trade regime under the WTO is more rapid investment and overall economic growth by securing better market access for products. For African countries, this can be possible only if they can participate more effectively in the design and enforcement of trade rules as well as strengthening the institutional mechanism that shapes the trade regime on appropriate terms. This Policy Brief explores the question of why has African countries' participation in the WTO has been marginal and suggests recommendations to improve the situation. Enhancing LDCs Exports to OECD Markets Challenges and Opportunities Efforts toward enhancing export opportunities of least developed
countries (LDCs) acquired a fresh impetus during the Third United Nations
Conference on Least Developed Countries (UNLDC-III), held in Brussels in May
2001. Prior to this, there were two initiatives by the rich countries, which intend to offer better market opportunities for the LDC exports. The US introduced the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), while the European Union (EU) came out with the Everything But Arms (EBA) initiative. This Policy Brief provides an objective assessment of the marginalisation of the LDCs in the global trading system by citing suitable examples and highlighting the need for sustained global actions for strengthening the LDC exports. An effort has been made to understand the possible outcomes of the EBA by examining its weaknesses, challenges and opportunities from the political economy perspective.
US
Politics and Free Trade: Trade Policy Options for Africa
On
the heels of the Quebec Summit of the Americas and meeting of the Organisation
of American States (OAS) to re-energise efforts to create the world’s largest
free trade area of the Americas (FTAA), America’s tradefocus has turned to
Africa. May 23, 2001 marked the first anniversary of passage of the Africa
Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). A number of receptions were held at the US
Congress to celebrate the occasion, with several African ambassadors, American
officials and business people attending in good numbers. The
AGOA itself is little more than a framework for shaping future US-Africa
economic relations and serious implementation issues has already arisen. Even
this fact did not slow down the public relations campaign from all quarters
praising AGOA as the first step in the beginning of a new era. In
spite of the rash of AGOA seminars put on by US missions and private consultants
around Africa and the announcement of the first high level US-Africa AGOA
ministerial on October 3-4 2001, African policy makers must recognise that all
is not well in the Bush Administration’s world of global economic development
through free trade. In
fact, careful analyses of other US bilateral free trade initiatives, US
positions on WTO (World Trade Organisation) issues, and Republican and
Democratic domestic political maneuvering on US trade policy offer insights into
some of the dynamics African policy makers must contend with. The following issues represent important policy and political contexts for African nations to consider, as they contemplate the role of trade and economic relations with America in relation to issues of peace, reconstruction, growth and development. CUTS-Africa Resource Centre
(CUTS-ARC) organised the seminar on 25-26, March 2002, at Lusaka, Zambia.
The seminar served as a follow up of the Doha Ministerial Conference of
the WTO. The objective was to make an assessment of the Work Programme
adopted at Doha from the regional perspective and also devise strategies for
future research and advocacy. Representatives from government, inter
governmental organizations, consumer and research organizations, business,
media and academia from the Southern and Eastern African countries participated in this seminar. |
