The European Union, EU, has again urged Nigeria to endorse the controversial Economic Partnership Agreement, EPA. The EU is contending that Nigeria cannot live in isolation for the sake of its economy.
The propriety or otherwise of Nigeria signing the EPA has pitched manufacturers and other members of the Organised Private Sector (OPS) against the EU. Most of them are insisting that signing the agreement as it is will hurt the manufacturing sector and the economy. However, the EU does not buy their argument.
At a dialogue session on Nigeria International Trade Relations, organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI), last week, Head of Trade & Economics at the EU to Nigeria and West Africa Fillippo Amato said Nigeria has nothing to fear about EPA.
Amato said the EU has shown goodwill with the release of 12 million euros for the enhancement of the National Quality Infrastructure, to improve quality, safety, integrity and marketability of Nigerian goods and services.
He said smaller African countries, such as Ghana, Rwanda, Gambia, Cameroun, Mauritania and southern Africa, have signed on with improved quality of production, while Nigeria with a large population has not.
Speaking on how Nigeria can tap into the European market, Amato said it is only through improvement in its production processes.
Nigeria is loosing so much to the rejection of beans and other export products to the EU because of the presence of a pesticide, dichlorvos, which is harmful to health. He also regretted that more than 70 per cent of beans exported to the EU from Nigeria contained the pesticide.
