ESA countries and last negotiations round

In the report of the last virtual meeting held in March 2023 by ESA countries (Zimbabwe, Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles) and the EU it is stated that:

1. About the technical barriers to trade (TBT): “…Both Parties had a constructive exchange on the outstanding issues, i.e. conformity assessment procedures, technical regulations and technical assistance…”
2. Rules of Origin: “… The Parties continued discussions on the product specific rules (PSR) and agreed on most of the PSR for textiles and clothing and industrial products. Both sides continued discussions on outstanding provisions of Protocol 1 related to wholly obtained goods, cumulation of product origin, accounting, segregation and transitional provisions and managed to clean the text of that Protocol…”
3. Intellectual Property Rights (IPR): “…The Parties had constructive discussions on designs, trademarks, international intellectual property treaties and general provisions. The section on designs has been agreed. Other core sections of the IPR chapter remain on the verge to be finalized pending ongoing internal consultations of the Parties. In this respect, the Parties concurred on the further roadmap and commitments in the negotiation process to safeguard that these sections can be closed in the next round as well. The deliberations in the next round will also permit both Parties to revise some of their proposed provisions to find an agreement eventually…”.

Finally, about the geographical indications “… the Parties exchanged notably their views on the approach proposed by the EU to permit a direct legal protection by means of the deepened EPA of selected GIs in the territories of EU and ESA5…”