Since
1975. (formerly the
Yaoundé Convention) A
convention to draft
treaties held between the
European Union and countries of
Africa, the
Caribbean and the
Pacific.
In their own words:
To promote the economic, social and cultural development of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States and to establish close cooperation in a spirit of complete equality. To create a model for relations between developed States and developing countries with a view to a just and balanced world economic order.
Areas of cooperation include:
- The environment
- agricultural cooperation, food security and rural development, including measures to combat drought and desertification<.li>
- indebtedness and structural adjustment
- cooperation on commodities
- industrial development (manufacturing and processing) in conjunction with the development of undertakings
- mining and energy development
-
- the development of services, including tourism, transport, communications and data-processing
- trade development
- cultural and social cooperation
- regional cooperation.
The Lomé Convention is regarded as a
protectionist organization by the
World Trade Organization because of
trade preference arrangements in the form of different
tariff rates that differed not only from the
MFN rates then available to
GATT contracting parties but also the
GSP rates that were available for other
non-ACP developing countries. The WTO has been seeking ways to reduce the Lomé Convention's power. The
GATT (the old version of the
WTO) included a
waiver for the
Lomé Convention, however many of the
WTO representatives have been making moves to have the waiver removed.