/ 21 January 1999

BRITISH HELP ON SADC-EU PACT

BRITAIN will help the Southern African Development Community assess the feasability of a free trade agreement with the European Union, the British High Commission said on Tuesday. “The aim is to provide SADC with clear advice and recommendations for a consistent and coherent trade policy for the year 2000 and beyond,” the High Commission said in a statement.The exercise will help SADC prepare its position ahead of EU-ACP (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific group countries) negotiations to determine the course of trade relations once the current Lome VI agreement, defining ties between the two groupings, expires in February 2000.