WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/L/597 
3 December 2004 
 (04-5343) 
General Council 
13-14 December 2004 Original:   English 
 
 
 
EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES – THE ACP-EC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT 
 
Report of the Parties to the Agreement under the Decision of 14 November 20011 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 3 December 2004, is being circulated at the request of 
the Delegation of the European Commission.  
_______________ 
 
 
1. Introduction 
1. On 14 November 2001, the Ministerial Conference decided to grant a waiver for the ACP-EU 
Partnership Agreement (known as the Cotonou Agreem ent) including the terms and conditions set out 
thereunder.  The waiver applies to the provisions of  paragraph 1 of Article I of the General Agreement 
on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) to the extent necessar y to permit the European Communities to provide 
preferential tariff treatment for products originatin g in ACP States as required by Article 36.3, Annex 
V and its Protocols of the ACP-EU Partnership Agre ement, without being required to extend the same 
preferential treatment to like products of any other WTO Member.  This waiver expires on 31 
December 2007. 
2. In accordance with paragraph 5 of the waiv er Decision, the Parties to the Convention 
herewith provide a report on the implementation of th e preferential treatment covered by the waiver.  
This report covers the year 2003. 
2. Economic and trade co-operati on under the Cotonou Agreement 
3. Trade development is one of the objectives of the Cotonou Agreement.  Article 34 states that 
“economic and trade co-operation shall aim at foster ing the smooth and gradual integration of the 
ACP States in to the world economy, with due re gard for their political choices and development 
priorities, thereby promoting their sustainable deve lopment and contributing to poverty eradication in 
the ACP countries”. 
4. To fulfil these objectives, the Parties to th e Agreement agreed to conclude new WTO-
compatible trading arrangements, under which they  will progressively remove barriers to trade and 
enhance cooperation in all areas relevant to trad e.  The negotiations of these Economic Partnership 
Agreements commenced on 27 September 2002 with the ACP Group as a whole.  Negotiations with 6 ACP regions have now also started and the ne w trading arrangements will come into force by 
1 January 2008 at the latest. 
5. Meanwhile, Article 36 of the Cotonou Agreem ent maintains the non-reciprocal trade 
preferences that were applied under the Fourth Lomé  Convention.  This preferential access into the 
                                                     
 
1 WT/MIN(01)/15, re-cir culated as WT/L/436. WT/L/597 
Page 2  
 
EU market for products originating from ACP stat es is laid down in Article 1 of Annex V to the 
Agreement and in Declaration XXII.  In addition to  the Declaration which applies for all ACP states, 
the product protocols on beef and veal and sugar establish the preferential treatment for a list of 
specific ACP countries. 
6. Of the 78 ACP contracting parties of the Cotonou Agreement, 55 are presently members of 
the WTO.  Moreover, Bahamas, Cape Verde, Equa torial Guinea, Ethiopia, Samoa, Sao Tome and 
Principe, Seychelles, Sudan, Tonga and Vanuatu ar e observer governments to the WTO.  Forty of the 
ACP States are included in the UN list of 49 Least Developed countries.  See annex 1 for details. 
3. Trade performance under the Cotonou Agreement 
7. Total trade between the EU and the ACP fell by  5.1% in 2003 to €55.3 billion. This followed 
a record, oil price-related 26% rise in trade in 2000,  a 8% increase in 2001 and a 1% decrease in 2002. 
8. The ACP continue to essentially export commod ities. Exports of petroleum products (30%), 
diamonds (10%), cocoa (10%), fish (6%), wood (4%), sugar (3%), aluminium and gold (2% each) represent two thirds of total ACP exports. 
9. There was little change in EU exports to  the ACP in 2003, which decreased from 
€27.8 billion to €26.8 billion. EU exports to the ACP consist of machinery and mechanical equipment 
(25%), vehicles, aircraft and other transport equipment (20%) and chemical products (10%). 
10. Relative imports from ACP countries were higher into the EU than into comparable import 
markets in the US, Canada and Japan in 2002, main ly because of the preferential access granted under 
the Cotonou Agreement.  The EU is the main trade partner for the ACP accounting for 51% of 
QUAD-ACP trade.  If petrol is excluded, the EU  share of ACP exports to QUAD countries is 65%. 
4. Fulfilment of the terms and condi tions attached to the waiver 
11. The Parties to the Convention have met the term s and conditions attached to the waiver.  Any 
changes in the preferential treatment for products originating in the ACP States will continue to be 
notified to the WTO.  Furthermore, the parties to the Agreement wish to assure the other WTO 
Members that they will, upon request, promptly en ter into consultations with any interested WTO 
Member with respect to any difficulty or matter that may arise as a result of the waiver. 
 
   WT/L/597 
 Page 3 
 
 
 
ANNEX 1  
 
Present ACP States Parties to the Cotonou Agreement (78)  
 
 
Angola  * Ghana * Saint Kitts and Nevis * 
Antigua and Barbuda * Grenada * Saint Lucia * Bahamas Guinea  * Saint Vincent and the 
Grenadines * 
Barbados * Guinea-Bissau  * Samoa 
Belize * Equatorial Guinea  Sao Tomé & Principe  
Benin  * Guyana * Senegal *  
Botswana * Haiti  * Seychelles 
Burkina Faso  * Jamaica * Sierra Leone * 
Burundi  * Kenya * Solomon Islands*  
Cameroon * Kiribati  Somalia  
Cape Verde  Lesotho  * South Africa *
1 
Central African Republic  * Liberia  Sudan  
Chad  * Madagascar * Suriname * 
Comoros  Malawi  * Swaziland * 
Congo (Brazzaville) * Mali  * Tanzania  * 
Congo (Democratic Republic 
of) * Marshall Islands Togo  * 
Cook Islands Mauritania  * Tonga  
Côte d’Ivoire * Mauritius * Trinidad and Tobago * Djibouti *  Mozambique  *  Tuvalu  
Dominica * Namibia * Uganda  * 
Dominican Republic * Nauru Vanuatu 
Eritrea  Niue Zambia  * 
Ethiopia  Niger  * Zimbabwe * 
Federated States of 
Micronesia Nigeria *  
Fiji * Palau East Timor 
Gabon * Papua New Guinea *  Gambia  * Rwanda  *  
   
 
    _______________ 
 
* ACP States currently me mbers of the WTO (55). 
 
 1 The trade provisions of the Lomé Convention do not apply to South Africa. 
 
 Least Developed Countries (UN list) in italics (40).  WT/L/597 
Page 4 
 
Source:   EUROSTAT. WT/L/597 
 Page 5 
 
 
  
Evolution of imports into EU (1)
Notes:
 (1) These fi gures represents EU9 in 1976 , EU10 from 1980 to 1985 , EU12 from 1990 to 1995
 (2) These fi gures represents exports and imports of the 76 states that were contractin g parties to the
     Cotonou Convention  , althou gh in earlier years some of them have not benefitted from Cotonou
      trade provisions
 (3) Afghanistan , Bhutan , Brunei , Ban gladesh , Burma , Cambod gia , China , India , Indonesia ,
     Kamputchea , Laos , Macao , Mala ysia , Maldives , Mon golia , M yanmar , Nepal , North Korea ,
     Pakistan , Philippines , Sin gapore , South Korea , Sri Lanka , Taiwan , Thailand , Vietnam du Nord , 
     Vietnam
 (4) Argentina , Bermuda , Bolivia , Brazil , Chile , Colombia , Costa Rica , Cuba , Ecuador , El Salvador , 
     Guatemala , Honduras , Mexico , Nicara gua , Panama , Para guay , Peru , Uru guay , Venezuela
 
 (5) Algeria , E gypt , Jordan , Lebanon , Morocco , S yria , Tunisia , Turke y
Source:  EUROSTAT.all products
020406080100120140160180200220
1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000Euro bn
ACP (2) Asia (3)
Latin-America (4) Mediterranean (5)agricultural products
01020304050607080
1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000Euro bn
ACP (2) Asia (3)
Latin-America (4) Mediterranean (5)
 WT/L/597 
Page 6  
 
  
Notes:
 (1) These fi gures re presents EU9 in 1976 , EU10 from 1980 to 1985 , EU12 from 1990 to 1995
 (2) These fi gures represents exports and imports of the 69 states that were contractin g parties to the
     Lomé Convention in 1992 , althou gh in earlier years some of them have not benefitted from Lomé 
      trade provisions
 (3) Afghanistan , Bhutan , Brunei , Ban gladesh , Burma , Cambod gia , China , India , Indonesia ,
     Kamputchea , Laos , Macao , Mala ysia , M aldives , M on golia , M yanmar , Nepal , North Korea ,
     Pakistan , Philippines , Sin gapore , South Korea , Sri Lanka , Taiwan , Thailand , Vietnam du Nord 
     Vietnam
 (4) Argentina , Bermuda , Bolivia , Brazil , Chile , Colombia , Costa Rica , Cuba , Ecuador , El Salvado r
     Guatemala , Honduras , Mexico , Nicara gua , Panama , Para guay , Peru , Uru guay , Venezuela
 
 (5) Algeria , E gypt , Jordan , Lebanon , Morocco , S yria , Tunisia , Turke y Evolution of exports from EU (1)
020406080100120140
1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002
ACP(2) Asie(3) Latin-America(4) Mediterranean(5)in bn euro
 
Source:  EUROSTAT.   WT/L/597
 Page 7 
Trends in trade between EU (1)and develo pping countries 1976 - 2003
EU  imports   in bn ecu   
1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
ACP(2) 10.6 12.8 12.2 15.1 19.5 17.2 18.8 20.1 25.5 27.0 19.9 16.5 17.5 19.6 21.9 19.3 18.0 14.9 18.6 19.9 22.0 23.0 21.4 21.9 28.9 31.6 30.5 28.5
Asie(3) 8.7 9.9 10.2 13.0 16.0 17.1 18.6 20.5 24.8 25.9 27.4 33.1 40.5 47.7 50.7 62.5 65.9 74.1 84.0 96.5 107.4 128.8 144.8 159.9 214.4 209.7 209.2 219.9
Latin-America (4) 8.1 9.7 9.3 11.3 13.5 16.6 18.2 20.4 23.9 25.7 20.5 19.5 23.3 26.3 25.6 26.0 24.5 22.4 27.3 31.0 30.9 35.4 35.7 37.7 49.4 51.0 49.1 48.2
Mediterranean (5) 9.6 9.5 9.0 12.2 16.4 21.6 25.8 25.6 29.1 32.3 20.3 20.9 15.3 19.5 21.9 23.1 23.4 23.0 24.8 25.6 28.7 34.0 34.4 38.1 52.8 56.4 56.5 57.4
All developping 
countries 70.7 75.1 70.9 88.0 114.3 129.1 128.8 121.7 135.1 138.9 109.1 108.8 130.4 156.6 165.2 177.1 174.9 177.3 200.9 226.1 247.3 289.6 304.3 337.3 457.8 464.7 4 59.7 461.0
Extra-EU 157.7 173.2 178.3 217.7 269.9 303.8 321.5 328.5 382.1 399.7 336.8 340.5 387.8 447.4 461.6 494.1 487.1 487.4 538.6 545.3 581.0 672.6 710.5 779.8 1033.4 1 028.4 989.3 986.0
EU  exports   in bn ecu   
1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
ACP(2) 10.0 13.0 13.2 12.3 16.4 19.7 19.3 16.6 17.2 18.3 16.5 14.1 15.5 16.7 18.3 16.0 17.4 16.5 14.9 17.6 18.7 20.4 22.2 21.8 26.6 27.7 27.8 26.9
Asie(3) 7.5 8.6 10.6 12.4 13.1 16.9 19.6 21.6 24.9 29.7 28.9 29.9 33.8 40.8 41.0 43.8 47.1 60.0 70.7 87.4 94.2 104.1 82.4 88.2 115.5 118.8 121.4 124.2
Latin-America (4) 7.3 8.7 8.9 10.1 11.7 14.9 13.1 11.3 13.4 13.5 14.4 13.8 13.6 15.6 15.6 18.0 20.4 24.3 29.2 32.7 36.2 45.6 49.6 46.1 55.1 58.2 50.2 44.0
Mediterranean (5) 12.3 14.4 13.9 16.4 19.8 27.9 25.6 27.3 29.3 29.8 24.4 22.0 19.8 22.4 25.8 26.3 26.5 32.2 31.1 36.9 42.6 49.8 52.9 52.0 65.2 57.1 61.1 64.2
All developping 
countries 50.9 62.1 66.5 69.7 83.4 112.0 117.1 116.4 123.4 121.7 110.2 104.7 147.4 143.8 148.4 156.2 170.4 196.0 211.3 255.3 280.9 323.5 319.7 317.2 396.4 415.5 42 0.0 425.0
Extra-EU 141.3 166.4 173.7 194.2 221.1 266.7 286.5 303.0 351.3 380.8 344.6 339.5 362.9 413.2 415.4 423.5 436.1 487.5 541.6 573.3 626.3 721.1 733.4 760.2 942.0 98 5.8 997.3 974.9
 
 
Source:  EUROSTAT.  
 WT/L/597 
Page 8  
 
 
 
 
 
 
Source:  EUROSTAT.   WT/L/597 
 Page 9 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 Source: Comext EUROSTAT.share of imports from ACP into EU
0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7% 8% 
1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002  WT/L/597 
Page 10  
 
 
Source:  EUROSTAT. 
 
Main Products imported from the ACP 
Petroleum
30%
Aluminium  
2%Gold
2% Other
33%
Sugar  
3% Wood
4%Fish
6%Cocoa  
10%  Diamonds
10%  WT/L/597
 Page 11 
 IMPORTS  IN    EU15 from   ACP   countries      
            
1000 ecu           
partner 1991 1995 1998 2002  % ACP in 
2002 % agric prod 
in  2002 2003  % ACP in 
2003 % agric prod 
in  2003 
            
ACP 19,278,953 19,893,153 21,334,258 30,514,627  100% 29% 28,515,680  100% 31% 
Nigeria 4,571,988  3,442,656  2,874,474  5,001,203   16% 7% 6,152,226   22% 8% 
Ivory Coast 1,617,181  2,067,832  2,269,497  2,601,474   9% 72% 2,522,300   9% 80% 
Cameroon 1,158,659  1,174,847  1,422,900  1,563,410   5% 23% 1,723,235   6% 28% 
Botswana 82,156  62,844  145,680  1,563,585   5% 3% 1,508,718   5% 2% 
Mauritius 780,507  1,020,376  1,098,648  1,342,027   4% 30% 1,367,797   5% 26% 
Angola 832,344  561,422  587,570  2,264,648   7% 2% 1,135,733   4% 0% 
Ghana 717,203  839,245  1,211,090  1,114,537   4% 53% 1,041,831   4% 62% 
Equat.Guinea 31,192  29,070  204,119  743,569   2% 0% 955,999   3% 0% 
Kenya 564,846  646,738  783,383  848,186   3% 89% 794,040   3% 91% 
Congo (Dem. Rep.) 963,360  842,003  780,207  1,238,936   4% 1% 723,931   3% 2% 
Tanzania 179,706  202,279  249,786  430,004   1% 57% 610,088   2% 37% 
Liberia 249,269  637,422  422,753  872,779   3% 0% 
600,614   2% 1% 
Mozambique 66,754  80,663  110,236  582,948   2% 16% 582,445   2% 15% 
Namibia 135,450  370,144  381,648  738,175   2% 41% 565,503   2% 55% 
Gabon 1,227,185  798,703  834,816  607,034   2% 3% 531,484   2% 3% 
Jamaica 285,933  368,086  518,827  507,489   2% 27% 525,927   2% 26% 
Madagascar 167,825  346,198  475,667  616,448   2% 62% 513,402   2% 58% 
Bahamas 215,773  231,886  321,685  530,326   2% 61% 506,400   2% 63% 
Zimbabwe 643,915  638,890  691,366  610,850   2% 68% 486,990   2% 67% 
Trinidad,Tob 174,478  227,442  376,795  499,549   2% 7% 443,710   2% 7% 
Antigua,Barb 12,805  8,940  9,786  787,607   3% 0% 379,790   1% 3% 
Guinea 308,387  310,255  433,467  476,064   2% 6% 367,456   1% 13% 
Papua N.G. 198,542  405,505  328,137  260,569   1% 90% 351,023   1% 84% 
Senegal 381,845  369,727  417,077  405,664   1% 82% 336,358   1% 87% 
Dominican R. 119,441  223,174  252,237  349,040   1% 44% 330,747   1% 45% 
Congo 547,259  717,988  387,863  503,752   2% 4% 324,744   1% 5% 
Mauritania 255,185  257,213  318,854  372,174   1% 32% 304,422   1% 35% 
Uganda 130,792  356,288  271,687  260,679   1% 84% 236,222   1% 89% 
Sudan 103,386  172,097  240,189  264,577   1% 33% 228,013   1% 33% 
Seychelles 52,262  17,292  84,955  258,171   1% 87% 226,545   1% 93% 
Malawi 183,136  141,036  170,875  176,849   1% 99% 183,056   1% 98%  WT/L/597 
Page 12 IMPORTS  IN    EU15 from   ACP   countries      
            
1000 ecu           
partner 1991 1995 1998 2002  % ACP in 
2002 % agric prod 
in  2002 2003  % ACP in 
2003 % agric prod 
in  2003 
Guyana 119,290  146,026  158,720  182,097   1% 73% 181,724   1% 73% 
Ethiopia 119,617  229,652  279,666  189,981   1% 57% 181,426   1% 62% 
Swaziland 126,363  127,186  148,636  112,307   0% 38% 177,613   1% 17% 
Centr.Africa 90,864  112,759  179,203  176,248   1% 14% 149,519   1% 9% 
Zambia 255,552  181,619  219,694  115,390   0% 52% 126,175   0% 50% 
Surinam 130,910  136,647  166,057  129,149   0% 87% 119,093   0% 88% 
Sierra Leone 168,983  94,385  82,967  85,180   0% 7% 109,891   0% 8% 
Barbados 32,747  33,938  54,418  92,470   0% 97% 104,447   0% 98% 
St Vincent 48,186  44,620  69,238  172,238   1% 2% 91,490   0% 3% 
Marshall Is.     68,227   0% 88% 89,338   0% 82% 
Niger 182,114  120,883  152,535  82,994   0% 0% 77,820   0% 2% 
Togo 105,504  76,257  44,890  68,043   0% 68% 63,666   0% 61% 
Fiji 120,015  112,259  109,941  100,778   0% 0% 59,640   0% 0% 
Belize 33,343  80,874  97,451  57,066   0% 50% 46,043   0% 59% 
Burkina Faso 73,939  52,396  83,469  52,621   0% 22% 45,454   0% 30% 
Mali 60,984  66,666  118,124  65,751   0% 9% 45,391   0% 10% 
Chad 50,465  80,026  82,245  45,521   0% 8% 39,723   0% 9% 
Benin 38,744  57,968  55,875  58,065   0% 28% 37,181   0% 42% 
St Lucia 70,928  58,854  57,540  38,515   0% 95% 23,587   0% 94% 
Gambia 93,595  103,419  108,803  18,650   0% 93% 21,654   0% 87% 
Cape Verde 4,089  7,418  10,829  24,057   0% 1% 19,833   0% 6% 
Comoros 13,114  5,692  7,375  18,896   0% 76% 19,516   0% 82% 
Dominica 39,444  21,612  27,616  27,645   0% 55% 18,269   0% 50% 
Rwanda 106,940  30,748  64,117  21,779   0% 78% 17,895   0% 62% 
Lesotho 20,084  20,153  19,880  14,447   0% 58% 13,742   0% 56% 
Grenada 10,323  6,742  9,943  14,196   0% 86% 13,464   0% 85% 
St.Ch.&Nevis 9,330  10,681  11,280  13,780   0% 80% 9,859   0% 83% 
Burundi 70,665  144,539  57,835  23,903   0% 94% 8,370   0% 86% 
Guinea Biss. 6,720  15,686  10,451  7,523   0% 53% 7,818   0% 69% 
S.Tome,Princ 3,030  3,830  9,063  6,286   0% 87% 7,395   0% 83% 
Haiti 27,478  28,855  29,483  10,310   0% 14% 5,706   0% 0% 
Djibouti 37,388  49,812  47,784  4,475   0% 10% 5,610   0% 8% 
Eritrea   1,570  17,419  6,308   0% 30% 2,878   0% 29% 
Vanuatu 11,324  7,411  15,887  4,284   0% 89% 2,648   0% 95% 
West. Samoa 332  972  4,030  2,647   0% 6% 2,561   0% 31%   WT/L/597
 Page 13IMPORTS  IN    EU15 from   ACP   countries      
            
1000 ecu           
partner 1991 1995 1998 2002  % ACP in 
2002 % agric prod 
in  2002 2003  % ACP in 
2003 % agric prod 
in  2003 
East Timor  3,791   0%  1,671   0% 58% 
Solomon Is. 19,032  32,926  34,183  1,181   0% 85% 1,655   0% 88% 
Somalia 16,714  18,731  9,454  2,688   0% 25% 1,343   0% 34% 
Kiribati 1,248  106  1,537  2,440   0% 48% 1,233   0% 37% 
Tuvalu 153  124  98  961   0% 11% 975   0% 1% 
Nauru     1,359   0% 1% 534   0% 9% 
Cook Is  2,978   0%  511   0% 27% 
Tonga 603  821  216  1,251   0% 2% 456   0% 25% 
Fed.Micron.     593   0% 0% 95   0% 0% 
Palau  8   0% 100% 15   0% 82% 
Niue  143   0%  4   0% 37% 
            
Source : EUROSTAT.           
            
   WT/L/597 
Page 14  
 
 
 
 
 
_______________ 
 
 QUAD   Trade   with  ACP  countries   ;  2002 imports from ACP    ; million EURO  
TOTAL  EU15 CANADA JAPAN UNITED STATES
Group of  
Products  QUAD mio € %  
QUAD % TOTAL 
(01-99)mio € % 
QUAD% TOTAL 
(01-99)mio € % 
QUAD% TOTAL  
(01-99)mio € % QUAD  % TOTAL 
(01-99)
 Primary  
commodities  
(01-27) 38,130  17,918  47% 59% 529 1% 48% 2,515 7% 88% 17,168  45% 69%
 from which Fuels  
(27) 25,223 8,261 33% 27% 330 1% 30% 1,663 7% 58% 14,969 59% 60%
  
Manufactured  
goods  19,665  11,039  56% 36% 581 3% 52% 354 2% 12% 7,692 39% 31%
 from which  
Textiles and  
clothing  (50-63)  5,264 1,261 24% 4% 46 1% 4% 18 0% 1% 3,940 75% 16%
TOTAL  
(01-99)  59,361  30,522  51% 100% 1,110 2% 100% 2,869 5% 100% 24,860  42% 100%
TOTAL  
excl Fuels  34,138  22,261  65% 73% 781 2% 70% 1,206 4% 42% 9,891 29% 40%
Source EUROSTAT : COMEXT and COMTRADE  
Imports  :  QUAD  Trade  with ACP  in 2002    (mio euro)  
0 5000 10000  15000  20000  25000  30000  35000  
Canada  USA Japan EU 
Primary commodities excl fuel (01-26) 
Fuels (27) 
Manufactured goods (28-99) 
TOTAL (01-99)