Answer:
All West African products, except arms and ammunitions, are going to be liberalised from the first
day of entry into application of the EPA (duty-free quota-free). The EPA will therefore prolong for an
unlimited period of time the duty-free quota-free market access granted today by the EU to West
Africa's Least Developed Countries and to Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire under the interim EPAs. It will
improve market conditions for Nigeria and Cape Verde's exports (the two West African countries
which are listed as "middle income countries" and not yet under an EPA).
Explanation:Nigeria currently benefits from the General Scheme of Preferences (GSP) of the European Union,
which is granted unilaterally by the EU to developing countries. As a general rule, the EU is already
setting very low tariffs or zero duty for raw materials, but higher duties for transformed products –
so the EPA creates an advantage mostly for those transformed products. GSP is decreasing tariffs
on around 2/3 of EU tariff lines, and the EPA will remove all tariffs, except on arms and ammunition.
