Cameroon Ratifies Bilateral Economic Partnership Agreement with UK

The bilateral Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between Cameroon and the United Kingdom, signed on 9 March in London, has just been ratified by Cameroon. Indeed, the President of the Republic signed on June 28 a decree ratifying this EPA. It can now be implemented by the country.

Modelled on the EPA with the European Union (EU), this agreement allows Cameroon to continue to benefit from preferential access (duty-free and quota-free) to the British market for all its products.This agreement is modelled on the EPA with the European Union (EU) and allows the Cameroonian side to continue to benefit from preferential access (without customs duties and quotas) to the British market for all its products, and for the United Kingdom to bring in 80% of its exports to the Cameroonian market duty free. It is called a "milestone" because a number of clauses remain to be negotiated.

A stakeholder in the EPA between Cameroon and the EU, the United Kingdom decided on 27 March 2017, in a referendum, to leave the EU. As a result, this country lost the benefit of trade agreements between the EU and its partners around the world. In order not to disrupt trade with its partners after its exit from the Union, the UK has engaged in the negotiation of new trade agreements and treaties with all its major trading partners.

The Cameroon-UK bilateral EPA has a number of issues at stake, particularly with regard to trade between the two countries. Indeed, this EPA will first safeguard, and then boost, trade between the two countries (the United Kingdom is not among Cameroon's largest partners, editor's note). According to officials, this trade represents about 263 million dollars (145 billion CFA francs), and is largely to the advantage of the United Kingdom, which, according to customs data, delivers to Cameroon manufactured goods, machinery and mechanical and electrical appliances, vehicles and pharmaceutical products.

On the Cameroonian side, the gains from this trade agreement are less significant. According to a study published in 2019 by BKP Economic Advisors, banana exports to the UK now account for about 13% of Cameroon's total banana exports, or nearly €10 million (CFAF 6.53 billion). According to data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), without a bilateral agreement between Cameroon and the UK, the UK's exit from theAccording to data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), without a bilateral agreement between Cameroon and the United Kingdom, the country's exit from the EU could have led to an overall drop in Cameroon's exports to the United Kingdom of 28%, or an envelope of nearly 17.1 million U.S. dollars each year, corresponding to 9.9 billion CFA francs.

Source: www.investiraucameroun.com