Mozambique: Guebuza calls for delay in EPAs

Mozambican President Armando Guebuza has argued that implementation of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between the countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the European Union (EU) should be delayed until 2016. Speaking to reporters in Brussels, where he was attending the Seventh European Development Days (EDD), Guebuza said 'our preference is for 2016. Everything is under negotiation and we are waiting for the results'. The EU is currently insisting that countries that do not ratify EPAs by January 2014 will lose out on the benefits of preferential access to European markets.