The Most Favoured-Nation Provision in the EC-EAC EPA and its Implications

The issue with the MFN clause in the EPAs is that it may slow down South-South trade since the “major trading economies may not find any incentive to negotiate bilateral concessions with the EAC/ACP countries knowing that these would be taken advantage of by the EC rather than their own exporters; thus leading to slowdown in expansion/diversification of the export basket for EAC/ACP countries.