WT/REG258/M/1  
 
22 May 2018 
(18-2992) Page: 1/4 
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements  
Eighty -Eighth Session    
 
ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT BETWEEN CÔT E D'IVOIRE AND THE 
EUROPEAN  UNION  
(GOODS ) 
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 9-10 APRIL 2018 
Chairma n: Ambassador Julian BRAITHWAITE (United Kingdom)  
1.1.  The 88th Session of the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (hereinafter 'CRTA' or the 
'Committee') was convened in Airgram WTO/AIR/RTA/13 /Rev.1  dated 2 9 March 2018.  
1.2.  Under Agenda Item H.I of the Session, the CRTA considered the Economic Partnership 
Agreement between Côte d'Ivoire and the European Union, goods, (her einafter  "the Agreement").  
1.3.  The Chairman  said that the Agreement had been provisionally applied by both Parties since 
3 September 2016. It had been notified to the WTO by the Parties on 11 December 2008 and 
27 September 2016 under Article XXIV:7(a) of the G ATT 1994 and the Understanding on the 
Interpretation of Article XXIV of GATT 1994 as an Agreement establishing a free trade area 
(documents WT/REG258/N/1 and WT/REG258/N/1/Add.1). The text of the Agreement was 
available, together with its Annexes, on the P arties' official websites. The Factual Presentation on 
the goods aspects (document WT/REG258/1 dated 8 December 2017) and questions and replies 
on the Agreement (document WT/REG258/2 dated 20 February 2018) had been distributed.  
1.4.  The representative of the European Union  was delighted to present the  Agreement to the 
Committee . He thanked the Secretariat for the excellent factual presentation of the Agreement, 
and Côte d'Ivoire  for its helpful cooperation in the preparation of the meeting. He also thank ed 
Canada, the United States and Thailand for the ir written questions which had reflect ed their 
interest in the Agreement.  
1.5.  The Agreement was the second  Economic Partnership Agreement (hereinafter EPA) presented 
to the Committee after the one with the Eastern and Southern Africa States and the first free trade 
agreement with a West African country . The frame of reference for the Agreement was the 
Cotonou Agreement associating the European Union with 79 countries from Africa, the Caribbe an 
and the Pacific  (hereinafter ACP), in a three -dimensional relationship covering the diplomatic and 
political, development and commercial spheres.  The EPAs were trade and development 
agreements.  The asymmetrical provisions of th ose agreements and the Aid  for Trade measures 
reflect ed the recognition of the existing differences in socio -economic development between the 
European Union and the ACP countries.  
1.6.  The EPAs aimed at promoting regional integration  and had been negotiated on a regional 
basis in Sub-Saharan Africa. Many provisions of the Agreement were intended to improve customs 
cooperation and enhance trade facilitation. The Agreement fit into the regional dimension. The 
regional EPA negotiations had been  concluded  in 2014 , after ten years of discussi on involv ing 15 
member States of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) , the West African 
Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU ), Mauritania and the EU.  
1.7.  Côte d'Ivoire had  signed the Agreement with the European Union on 26  November  2008 
which had entered into force provisionally for the Parties on 3  September  2016.  The EU hoped  that 
the Agreement would serve as an example in West Africa and convince all the countries of the WT/REG258/M/1  
 
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  region to join the regional agreement. Côte d'Ivoire and the EU were actively promoting the 
regional EPA with West Africa which, once adopted, would succeed the Agreement . 
1.8.  The Agreement was a trade and dev elopment agreement which ensured  free access to the 
European market for Côte d'Ivoire's products, with a view to supporting economic growth through 
trade, investment and employment. As shown by the trade statistics between Côte d'Ivoire and 
the European Union, the Agreement was  working . Côte d'Iv oire's trade with the EU amounted  to 
€6.9 billi on, equivalent to around CFAF 4,500 billion ; in 2016, Côte d'Ivoire had a trade surplus 
with the EU of nearly €2 billion. The EU was Côte d'I voire's main destination market and supplied  
much o f the equipment that contributed  to its economic growth.  
1.9.  Under the Agreement , all exports from Côte d'Ivoire to the EU had entered the European 
market duty -free and quota -free since January 2008. The Agreement guarantee d secure access to 
the European market for Côte d'Ivoire. Thus, it ha d led to the rapid growth of Côt e d'Ivoire's 
exports of cocoa and cocoa products, which  had increased 2.5  times between 2008 and  2016. Côte 
d'Ivoire would liberalize 80% of its imports from the EU, on a reciprocal basis, in the coming  years.  
1.10.   The Agreement also included  provisions on mar ket access, trade defence instruments and 
dispute settlement. With regard to rules of origin, the EU and Côte d'Ivoire were in the process of 
negotiating simpler and more flexible reciprocal rules of origin. The cumulation rules would enable 
Ivorian enterp rises to export products to Europe using inputs from the region and from a large 
number of ACP countries, as well as  from other countries that enjoyed  duty-free access in the 
context of their trade relationship with the EU.  
1.11.   The Agreement also included  a development cooperation chapter aimed at strengthening 
Côte d'Ivoire's institutional and production capacities and supporting the processes needed to 
boost the country's economic adjustment and competitiven ess. Côte d'Ivoire benefited  from the 
EU's developm ent projects, aiming at improving its agricultural and energy sectors and its 
administrative set -up, particularly in the area of customs administration. Nearly €871 million were 
to be mobilized by the EU between 2015 and 2020, which would have an impact on  the outcome of 
Côte d'Ivoire's EPA implementation strategy. Those programmes include d the Trade Support and 
Regional Integration Programme, worth €9 billion, which had been launched by the EU and Côte 
d'Ivoire, and which would (i) provide  support for the upgrading and competitiveness of Ivorian  
enterprises; (ii)  strengthen  their export potential and their presence on regional and international 
markets through support for priority export sectors ; and (iii) support the  implementation of the 
Ivorian  EPA strategy by strengthening the capabilities of the Ministry of African Integration, the 
Trade  Ministry and the Industry Ministry.  
1.12.   The EU and Côte d'Ivoire had reaffirmed their commitment to use the Agreement as an 
instrument of dialogue and partnership. To that end, the Parties were currently building a suitable 
mechanism to monitor the implementation of the Agreement through indicators and technical 
groups on topics such as sustainable development, customs and reform s of the business climate. 
Those groups would bring together representatives of the Ivorian parliament, ministries, 
implementing agencies, the private sector and civil society. Their task would be to ensure the 
practical implementation of the provisions of the Agreement  to enable Côte d'Ivoire to deri ve 
maximum advantage for its prosperity and development. Greater competitiveness and improved 
standards would benefit both Ivorian and European enterprises wishing to increase their 
investments and exports in Côte d'Ivoire and the region.  
1.13.   He hoped  that the  discussions in the Committee would be fruitful  and the EU  would make 
every effort to reply to questions or comments from Members.  
1.14.   The representative of Côte d'Ivoire  welcomed  the examination of the Agreement at the 
88th Session of the CRTA and thanked  the Secretariat for its professional drafting of the factual 
presentation . He thanked  also the United States, Canada and Thailand for showing their interest in 
the A greement through the submission of specific questions addressed to both Parties.  Lastly, he 
appreciated  the quality and frankness of the ongoing cooperation with the European Union in 
handling the issue in the respective Capitals and in Geneva. He express ed his gratitude to the 
delegation of the European Union and its Permanent Representative to the WTO.  WT/REG258/M/1  
 
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  1.15.   Trade relations between the European Union and Côte d'Ivoire, characterized by the trade 
preferences granted by the EU, had continued to evolve and progressively adapt to  the economic 
and political environment through the Yaoundé and Lomé Conventions and the 
Cotonou  Agreement.  In that context, t he Parties had agreed  to develop their trade relations within 
the framework of a free trade area based on an interim economic part nership agreement.  
1.16.   The Agreement had been  concluded on 7 December 2007 as a stepping stone towards the 
entry into force of a global economic partnership agreement between West Africa and the 
European  Union, as provided  for in Article 75, which stated  that the "Agreement shall be 
superseded by a global EPA concluded at regional level with the EC Party".  The Agreement 
adjusted  the global framework which governed the trade relations between the Parties to the rules 
and principles of the multilateral trading sy stem, which was governed by the WTO.  On that basis, 
the Agreement , signed on 26 November 2008 and notified to the WTO on 11  December  2008, had 
been supplemented by an addendum dated 27 September 2016.  The notification and the 
addendum had both been submitt ed under Article XXIV:7(a) of GATT 1994.  
1.17.   The Agreement had entered into force on 3 September 2016. Since that date, the Parties 
had met on several occasions to take the necessary steps to ensure its implementation. Following 
the second meeting of the second joint EPA Committee held in Abidjan on 21 and 22  March  2018, 
Côte d'Ivoire had notified the measures that it would take to initiate tariff dismantling in January 
2019.  
1.18.   The Agreement was  a trade and development agreement aimed at supporting the economic 
growth and development of Côte d'Ivoire through trade, investment and employment. The 
Agreement also established  an institutional partnership between Côte d'Ivoire and the EU with 
respect to trade -related issues.  
1.19.   Title III of the Agreement dealt  with the trade regime for goods, and in particular customs 
duties and non -tariff measures, trade defence instruments, the customs regime and trade 
facilitation, as well as TBT and SPS measures. It was supplemented by Title V on dispute 
settlement, Title VI on gener al exceptions and Title VII on institutional, general and final 
provisions. The tariff commitments of the P arties were set out in Annexes I and II. Côte d'Ivoire's  
commitments had been updated to take account of delays in the development of the customs 
nomenclature. A protocol on mutual administrative assista nce in customs matters completed  the 
legal provisions of the Agreement.  
1.20.   The P arties' merchandise exports and imports differ ed in structure. The EU exported and 
imported  mainly manufactured products (representing 80.6% of its total exports and 65.8% of its 
total imports ), while Côte d'Ivoire's exports  were essentially agricultural products (68.9% of its 
global exports) and its imports were a mix of manufactur ed products ( 53.5% of its global imports) 
and fuels and mining products (22.4% of its global imports). According to trade data  in 2015 , Côte 
d'Ivoire was the EU's 45th largest source of imports and 57th largest destination for exports, while 
the EU was Côte d'Ivoire's primary source of imports and the leading destination for its exports. 
For the period 2008 -2015, Côte d'Ivoire recorded an increase in its trade surplus with the EU.  
1.21.   The Agreement combin ed the advantages of a trade agreement with development aid aimed 
at accelerating Côte d'Ivoire's growth and development. The EU's support for th e Agreement ha d 
served to enhance the business environment, in particular through the Trade Support and Regional 
Integration Programme financed in the amount of roughly €14 million by the European Union. The 
second Trade Support and Regional Integration Programme , financed by the EU in the amount of 
€9 million, and relating to regional instruments, was being finalize d. The objectives of the 
programme were improved competitiveness and development of value chains. Côte d'Ivoire 
welcome d the support and remained  open to all forms of collaboration aimed at the effective and 
full implementation of that development instrume nt in a dynamic process which entail ed neither 
distortionary effects on subregional integration nor uncontrolled fiscal effects.  
1.22.   Accordingly, in 2017 Côte d'Ivoire had adopted a national strategy for the implementation of 
the Agreement and strengthened th e capacities and powers of its National Commission for the 
monitoring of EPAs. The strategy should enable Côte d'Ivoire to fulfil its commitments, while 
making it possible for enterprises and other economic actors of not only the Parties , but also all 
Memb ers, to derive sufficient benefit from the expected results.  WT/REG258/M/1  
 
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  1.23.   The representative of the United States  thanked the P arties and the Secretariat for their 
work in preparing the Factual Presentation and the review. He appreciate d the presentation of the 
Partie s which highlighted  the importance of having a broader context for the development o f the 
regional integration efforts that those RTAs support ed. He appreciate d the additional details and 
the context provided that day. The United States had submitted some advance written questions 
related to the interaction with ECOWAS and appreciate d the responses . He had no further follow 
up questions. He thanked again the Parties for the hard work put in the review process and the 
responses to the questions raised.  
1.24.   The representative of Canada  thank ed the Parties for the responses to its questions and 
noted that Canada  had no further questions.  
1.25.   The Chairman  said that consideration of the Goods Aspects of Economic Partnership 
Agreement between Côte d'Ivoire and the Europ ean Union  had allowed the Committee to clarify a 
number of questions and it could now conclude oral discussion of the RTA in accordance with 
paragraph 11 of the Transparency Mechanism. If any delegations wished to ask follow -up 
questions they were invited to forward submissions in writing to the Secretariat by 16 April 2018  
and Parties were asked to submit replies in writing by no later than 30 April 2018 . In accordance 
with paragraph  13 of the Transparency Mechanism all written submissions, as well as minu tes of 
the meeting would be circulated promptly, in all WTO  official languages, and would be made 
available on the WTO website.  
1.26.   The Committee took note of the comments made.  
 
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