Civil Society Organisations in Uganda now want EALA to take a more defined role in ensuring negotiations leading to the Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement (TIPA) between the EAC and the United States of America are comprehensive and all-inclusive.
The CSOs are calling on EALA to monitor development and to request for updates on the TIPA negotiations from the concerned Ministries to ensure transparency and accountability are upheld. This was revealed when CSOs under the aegis of the Southern and Eastern African Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI)-Uganda petitioned the Speaker of EALA, Rt. Hon Margaret Nantongo Zziwa at the Parliament of Uganda earlier today.
SEATINI-Uganda are concerned that the negotiations are tilted in favour of the US with the power nation negotiating on the basis of 2012 USA Model bilateral Investment Treaty. SEATINI Chief Executive Director and leader of the delegation, Ambassador Nathan Irumba maintains that the template is generally tailored to protect the US without addressing their obligations and the rights of the EAC countries. ‘We need a template that is acceptable to all”, Ambassador Irumba stated.
Receiving the petition, the EALA Speaker, Rt. Hon Margaret Nantongo Zziwa reiterated there was need for a conducive environment to enable fair competition among investors of the region. The Speaker added that the Dispute Resolution Mechanisms in the Agreement presented a challenge to East Africans terming it out of reach. ‘We need to address it as a matter of urgency’ Speaker Zziwa noted.
The petition signed by 22 Organisations further decries what it terms onerous drafting of several provisio of the agreement. Under Article 4, the Clause on the Most Favoured Nation (MFN), the petitioners indicate that the agreement is lopsided and it desires to accord US investors favourable treatment. “this provision limits EAC governments’ ability to choose which countries they would like to give preferences to when it comes to trade with any third party and recommends that it should be expunged from the agreement”, the petition adds in part.
On transfers, the petitioners state that the region stands to loose from the negative effect on balance of payments owing to increased outflows of profits and other investment incomes.
‘We are further concerned that the process of negotiating the Treaty is undemocratic and haphazard’, the petition states. The USA has presented the template on a ‘Take or Leave it’ premise as opposed to roundtable negotiations, the statement adds.
In attendance were representatives from Food Rights, Volunteers Efforts for Development Concerns (VEDCO), Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC), Jenga Afrika, Centre for Health and Reproductive Rights Development (CEHURD) and the Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM) among others. EALA Members, Hon Dan Kidega and Hon Mike Sebalu accompanied the Speaker.
The petitioners thus call for a more participatory approach and one that includes all stakeholders among them: CSOs, business community, religious affiliations, academia and farmers.
‘We support the promotion of investment but this should be in the context of a win-win situation where there is balance between the rights and obligations of both the investors and the host countries’, the statement concludes.
At the same time, SEATINI-Uganda expressed its concerns at what it termed the unjust manner in which discussions for grant of extension for enforcement of intellectual Property are being handled by the Trips Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Council and the EU delegation to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
At the moment, the European Union jointly with the USA is offering Least Developed Countries (LDCs) an offer of 5-7 years that is subject to restrictive conditions. They are thus demanding for provision of a special and differential treatment for developing countries in recognition of their vulnerability and constraints.
NOTES TO THE EDITORS
ABOUT SEATINI
The Vision of SEATINI is a strong and confident Africa committed to pursuing and defending the interests, rights and aspirations of its people at all levels.
SEATINI-Uganda’s main programmatic areas include: Financing for Development/Tax Justice: To Promote transparent and sustainable resource mobilisation, allocation and utilisation policies and practices
Regional Trade Integration: To promote effective stakeholder engagement in the East African Community, EAC regional integration process for improved livelihoods in the region and to contribute to poverty eradication and sustainable development in Uganda and the East African region.
Trade and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: To influence trade and trade related policy processes for attainment of Peoples’ Economic, Social and Cultural rights for sustainable development.
Influencing Multilateral and Bilateral Trade Systems: To enhance the capacity of Stakeholders to effectively influence multilateral and bilateral trade negotiations and other global processes in order that these processes generate favourable rules and frameworks that are supportive of Uganda’s and EAC’s development and improved livelihoods in Uganda and the EAC region.
Institutional Development: To strengthen the governance, financial and human resources for the effective operation of the institution.
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For more information, contact Bobi Odiko, Senior Public Relations Officer
East African Legislative Assembly, Tel: +255-27-2508240 Fax: +255-27-2503103, Cell: +255787-870945, +254-733-718036. Email: BOdiko@eachq.org, Web: https://www.eala.org
