Publication

This paper looks at rules of origin as administrative barriers to the utilization of preferences in preferential trade agreements (PTAs). It does so in the context of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries under the Coutonou Agreement. The author also examines revisions of EU PTA Rules of Origin, embodied in a set of rules (so-called Cotonou+) for the interim EU-ACP Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) and a second proposed set of rules for the EU’s Generalised System of Preference (GSP) arrangements. The author warns that harmonization of the Cotonou+ and GSP rules may be the source of serious discord in the negotiation of full EPAs.