The World Trade Institute (WTI) has joined calls on Africa to push back against the growing number of trade regulations by global trade partners, using available legal and recognised means.
This comes as the European Union (EU) and the United States are putting in place unilateral and (arguably) arbitrary regulations that are impacting Africa’s trade with, especially, the West.
The US government, early this year, rattled the world trade environment when it started imposing record tariffs on countries it says have a trade advantage over it, including several African countries, which are now incurring tariffs as high as 75 percent.
Later this year, the EU is due to start implementing the EU Deforestation Regulations that require countries to export to the market agricultural products strictly produced without having replaced a forest, among other requirements.
These products include coffee, soy, cocoa, palm oil, rubber, wood and cattle (including beef), some of which, like cocoa and coffee, are some of Africa’s economic backbone. At the same time, the EU is in the course of introducing the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), which aims to ensure that companies are held accountable for human rights and environmental impacts within their operations and value chains.
This means companies will need to identify, assess, prevent, and mitigate potential negative impacts related to their activities, as well as those of their business partners in and outside of the European Union.
Uganda, which has tested the wrath of the West over human rights, is urged to take note of these developments and take action as early as possible.
Dr Christian Häberli, Fellow at the World Trade Institute (WTI), says Africa may not be able to cope with the EU standards entirely, which are made without research into or the views of the African producers.
This, according to him, may necessitate looking for alternative markets. He, however, says that there is a possibility for Africa, through the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, to influence negotiations with the EU, adding that the fight against climate change should not be used to make Africa poorer.
Häberli says Africa may have only two options. “African exporters may face a hard decision: invest in meeting new EU sustainability requirements or pivot to alternative markets in Asia or the Americas that have fewer such restrictions,” he says, adding, “Instead of copying EU standards, Africa should push for “equivalent” measures that meet sustainability goals while reflecting African realities, capacities, and development priorities.”
He accused the EU of favouring EU companies during the development of sustainability measures. “Many EU sustainability rules (like the EUDR and CBAM) are self-defined without input from third countries, creating disproportionate burdens on African SMEs while giving exemptions to EU-based ones.
African exporters, especially SMEs, should push for trade facilitation measures like “green lanes” for trusted traders, to be applied as per the EU’s WTO and EPA commitments,” he added.
Ashlee Tuttieman, Global Coffee Lead at VOCAL (Voice of Organisations in Coffee Alliance) Network, said that sustainability and climate change adaptation will continue influencing trade policies.
She hailed Uganda’s efforts in moving towards compliance with the EUDR, expressing confidence that the implementation of the measure would not affect several countries, including Uganda, that export coffee to Europe. This, according to her, is because around half of the smallholder farmers in coffee are compliant and ready for EUDR and will not lose market access.
This was at an Africa-wide Virtual Press Conference under the theme: Promoting Equitable, Transformative and Mutually Beneficial EU–Africa Trade Relations in the Era of Emerging Sustainability Directives.
Vocal and Voice networks are interested in four aspects of sustainability in the cocoa and coffee supply chains: decolonising trade and policy environment, equitable value and risk distribution, responsible environmental stewardship, and protection of human rights.
They say that smallholder farmers who are not compliant will not lose all market access but may lose access in the short- to medium-term to high-value EU markets.
SEATINI-Uganda Executive Director, Jane Nalunga, says that although the EU Green Deal aims to address the climate crisis, a noble and global good, its application should not be punitive, and adequate technical, financial, and informational support is essential for compliance.
She called on the EU to give more resources to African governments to help them meet compliance, especially as they might not be able to beat the deadlines with the current resources.
It is said EU non-tariff barriers increase the cost of African trade by up to 283 percent, far more than tariffs, potentially undermining Africa’s export-led growth in agriculture, forestry, and biofuels.
“The colonial legacy has left African countries institutionally weak and economically dependent, with legal systems and regulations historically designed for extraction rather than development,” said Rangarirai Machemedze, Coordinator, SEATINI Southern Africa.
He adds that the EU directives, while framed as tools for environmental sustainability and accountability, risk becoming non-tariff barriers affecting exporters, smallholder farmers, and SMEs duea to lack of institutional capacities.