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Effects of Rules of Origin on the European Union - Africa Economic Partnership Agreements : summary of issues

Upphovsperson: Rios-Herran, Roberto
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Globalization, Trade and Regional Integration | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2007
Ämnesord: European Union, International negotiations, Economic agreements, Trade agreements, international trade, Business and economics, Ekonomi
Rules of Origin (ROO) determine the economic nationality of an imported product. Where margins of trade preferences are higher, ROO tend to be very restrictive and even sometimes dilutes the benefits of such preferences. As the ACP-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations enter a critical phase, the devil of the agreement will be in the detail of the impending EPAs ROO. According to the original mandate, EPA is supposed to be concluded by December 2007 and should be development friendly. Yet, the recent EC ROO offer to the ACP countries (Commission Staff Working Document Concerning the Definition of “Originating Products and Methods of Administrative Cooperation”) are seen by commentators as completely undermining the development dimension of EPA. Bearing in mind the current EPA negotiations, Roberto Rios explains how ROO impact the pattern of trade between countries and how they can be development friendly.

The proliferation of anti-dumping and poor governance in emerging economies: case studies of China and South Africa

Upphovsperson: Gao, Xuan
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Globalization, Trade and Regional Integration | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2009
Ämnesord: Foreign trade, Trade policy, dumping, unfair competition, trade barriers, Trade agreements, Governance, Trade liberalization, China, South Africa, Business and economics, Ekonomi
Through examination of the alleged rationale of the anti-dumping (AD) instrument, this paper argues that it has little to do with fairness or with level playing fields. AD trade protection enjoys broad political support merely because its convoluted technical complexities prevent all but a few insiders and experts from understanding the reality that underlies the rhetoric, thus enabling inefficient but well-organised domestic producers to safely utilise the instrument to protect themselves from foreign competition, at times in collusion with foreign exporters and with the national AD authorities as a broker. While the best option for AD reform, i.e., complete removal, is not practically available, this paper proposes improving AD’s procedural institutions by enhancing the quality of public governance in the formulation of AD decisions by national authorities. It further examines the AD practices and laws of China and South Africa, arguing that poor governance in emerging economies contributes to their prolific use of AD, usually disproportionate to their small share of world imports. These economies already maintain higher tariff barriers than industrial countries, so that without effective steps to ensure better governance to restrain the arbitrary and proliferating use of AD, they may lose out significantly on the gains from the trade liberalisation for which they have been striving for decades. CONTENTS Foreword 1. Introduction 2. Anti-dumping: Rhetoric vs. Reality 2.1 The Rehtoric of AD: To Ensure Level Playing Fields by Offsetting Unfair Competition 2.1.1 The Economic Rationale of Free Trade and Competition 2.1.2 AD: A Competition-Distorting and Protectionist Instrument 2.2 AD: Misundertanding, Ignorance and Indifference 2.2.1 Collaboration between Special Interest Groups and Decision Makers 3. Harnessing Anti-Dumping: A Good Governance Approach 3.1 Good Governance in AD Decision Making 3.2 The Prolific Use of AD by Emerging Economies and the Low Quality of Governance 3.2.1 AD Desicion Making in China 3.2.2 AD Decision Formulation in South Africa 4. Conclusions References    

Migration in sub-Saharan Africa

Upphovsperson: Adepoju, Aderanti
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2008
Ämnesord: International migration, Emigration, economic aspects, Migration policy, Development research, International cooperation, Brain drain, diaspora, Human trafficking, Africa South of Sahara, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
Africans arriving by rickety fishing boats to the Canary Islands, risking the passage across the Straits of Gibraltar or washed upon the Italian island of Lampedusa are familiar examples of therecent growth in migration from Africa to Europe. There is a darkside of migration in human trafficking, but the picture of a continenton the move also includes highly skilled professionals fromNigeria and Ghana who seek employment in universities and otherprofessions in South Africa. On the positive side migrant remittancesare a major source of income in many sub-Saharan Africancountries, helping to sustain the lives of poor home communities.A major challenge now facing sub-Saharan Africa is how to attractskilled emigrants back for national development.

Young women in African wars

Upphovspersoner: Coulter, Chris | Persson, Mariam | Utas, Mats
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2007
Ämnesord: War, conflicts, youth, Women’s participation, Women’s role, Social conditions, Government programmes, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
Young women are combatants in contemporary African wars. They also participate in a whole array of different roles. However, by and large, they remain invisible to us. In fact, our “northern” hackneyed views on women’s innate non-participation in war prevent us from seeing specific needs for young women during and in the aftermath of wars. For instance, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes often fail to address appropriate needs for young women and in a variety of ways “prevent” them from partaking. Issues of stigma, safe demobilisation, individual concerns for post-war marriage, health and education, need to be addresed in both a more gendered way, but also with an apposite understanding of young women’s agency in both peace and war. In this Policy note it is argued that to improve policy and programming efforts it is necessary to broaden the understanding of young women’s roles and participation in armed conflict in Africa historically and today.

Examining the South Africa–China agricultural trading relationship

Upphovspersoner: Sandrey, Ron | Edinger, Hannah
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Globalization, Trade and Regional Integration | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2009
Ämnesord: Foreign trade, Economic relations, agricultural trade, Trade agreements, export earnings, Access to markets, comparative analysis, China, South Africa, Business and economics, Ekonomi
In recent years, Africa has emerged as a dominant region in China’s foreign policy. As an emerging center of economic growth in the world economy, China is striving towards establishing a stronger footprint in Africa than ever before. The need to understand this rapprochement has been exacerbated by the current financial crisis.With focus on agricultural trade, this book uses empirical data spanning up to year end 2007 to explain the potential benefits of China growing trade in Africa on South Africa’s economy. The studies cover both China and South Africa’s positions as importer and exporter of agricultural products in each other’s markets. In doing so, they have carefully analyzed data from Chinese and South African sources. In order to give a fresh perspective to the analyses, a section of the work has been devoted to the nature of non-tariff barriers that face South Africa’s exporters into the Chinese market.

Identity and beyond : rethinking Africanity

Medarbetare: Diagne, Souleymane Bachir | Melber, Henning | Mama, Amina | Nyamnjoh, Francis B.
Utgivare: Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2001
Ämnesord: identity, Political power, Gender analysis, Africa
This Discussion Paper presents the plenary presentations by the three main speakers during the Nordic Africa Days, with an introduction offering an overview and comment on the various approaches on Gender and Power in African Contexts, Africanity as an Open Question and Rethinking Power in Africa.

The development dimension or disillusion : The EU's development policy goals and the Economic Partnership Agreements

Upphovsperson: Stocchetti, Marikki
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2007
Ämnesord: Partnership, International negotiations, Economic agreements, Trade agreements, international trade, Economic and social development, Sustainable development, Business and economics, Ekonomi
The EU and the ACP countries aim to conclude the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) by the end of December 2007. All parties agree that these trading arrangements are meant to be first and foremost “development instruments”. However, their positions differ greatly on how the EPAs will impact on theultimate goal of poverty reduction. In this policy note Marikki Stocchetti addresses the key issues of this disagreement.

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