Judge for yourself

On behalf of ActionAid I sent the following email:

"Dear Minister,

Last year the UK Government pledged to make poverty history and helped
deliver promises of more aid and debt cancellation. But now your department
is supporting new trade deals which threaten to undermine these promises and
make poverty in developing countries worse.

Economic Partnership Agreements being negotiated between the European Union
and 77 of its former colonies will force poor countries' farmers and
industries into unfair competition with rich countries.

Millions of livelihoods are at risk and entire industries are under threat.

I urge you to ensure the UK Government stands by its promises on trade and
poverty. Please listen to the repeated concerns of poor countries and use
your influence to:

- stop these agreements going ahead in their current form

- work with poor countries to develop alternative deals that will help bring
about trade justice

I look forward to your reply."

To which I recieved the reply:

"Thank you for your email to the Department of Trade and Industry, on the
Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) currently being negotiated between the
European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. I have
been asked to reply.

The UK believes that EPAs can promote long-term development, economic growth and
poverty reduction in the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. We
recognise the importance of these agreements and have taken a strong, proactive
approach in discussions within the European Union, drawing on the principles set
out in our Position Paper of March 2005. That Position Paper made clear our
belief that the development potential of EPAs will only be realised if the ACP
can make their own decisions on how and when they open their markets in line
with their poverty reduction strategies. To this end the UK continues to
support the ACP to make an informed choice through supporting practical research
and with financial technical assistance.

The UK recognises that both the negotiation and the implementation of the EPAs
will present challenges to the ACP. This is recognised by all participants and
the 2006 Review of EPAs presents a golden opportunity to assess these challenges
and develop methods for overcoming them. It is for this reason that the UK
worked hard to achieve the recent Council Conclusions on EPAs signed by all EU
Member States on 10 April. These conclusions provide the first real signal that
all 25 EU Member States are determined to see an outcome to these agreements
which genuinely work towards developing the countries concerned. The Commission
are obliged to adhere to these conclusions which endorse some of the key
elements of the UK Position Paper; notably the support of flexibility of trade
liberalisation in EPAs and acknowledging the right of the ACP to decide the
content of their EPA. The conclusions also outline EU Member States' priorities
for the 2006 Review, highlighting the need for a comprehensive review conducted
with ACP participation and which addresses both the trade and development
challenges of the agreements. It is worth noting that this goes over and above
what is required by the current Cotonou Agreement, which stipulates the Review
is to simply ensure that no further time is needed for preparations before the
end of 2007 deadline.

The UK continues to work hard to press the objectives outlined in our Position
Paper, and to deliver the best deal for the developing countries concerned,
namely that the ACP should have the right to choose the content of their EPA,
that the EU should offer duty and quota free access upfront and that the ACP
should have maximum flexibility over their own market opening. This position
paper can be found at www.dti.gov.uk/files/file9845.pdf

We also consistently use opportunities to highlight the need for a full and
thorough Review of EPAs to help identify the specific concerns of the ACP. We
welcome the Commission's commitment to development in these agreements and we
will hold them to account to deliver this. We are aware that some of the ACP
have concerns about how the negotiations are progressing. We continue to
discuss these concerns with them to ensure we understand them fully and we
continue to raise these concerns with the European Commission.

Regards

John
DTI Response Centre"

Now, the response is very civil and it deserves a civil retort. That is why I shall keep up a dialogue between myself and the DTI upon this matter. I shall also be following the Paper trail on this and bring you the results.

MAKE POVERTY HISTORY

Ram