TUESDAY, 5.00PM:
A TRADE and development agreement between South Africa and the European Union (EU) could be concluded by mid-1998, according to former Irish Republic foreign minister Gerald Collins.
Collins is leading a EU parliamentary delegation to South Africa. He said on Tuesday talks have been going on for 27 months, and such agreements usually took an average of 36 months.
He said problems at the moment centre on fisheries and agricultural products; another delegation member, the UK’s Caroline Jackson, added that EU member countries that produced the same products as South Africa – fruit, wine and spirits – are especially opposed to open trade.
The delegation is holding talks with government departments, non governmental organisations and politicians and briefed the National Assembly’s foreign affairs, trade and industry, and agriculture committees on Tuesday.