Chapter 4. The case of Cameroon 147
Agricultural multilateral negotiation stakes nevertheless affect in particular the three pillars of the
Agreement on Agriculture: (i) improving market access by reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers (ii)
discipline on the use of domestic support so that the aid granted to farmers does not lead to distorting
effects on markets and (iii) discipline on export subsidies. Regarding EPA negotiations stakes, they
focus on products that can be excluded from EPA, the implementation timetable, but also on the
development side which is supposed to distinguish an EPA from a free trade agreement (ALE).
The major constraint for countries is that these two processes are not easy to follow because, firstly, they
require significant human capacity, and secondly, the two negotiation processes occur in a context marked
by important changes in the EU’s agricultural and trade policies (reform of the Common Agricultural Policy
- CAP) and also by other bilateral or regional negotiation process involving ACP countries.
The state will have to deal with two major issues: (i) access to markets in the North and the EU
in particular, and (ii) competition from imports from the North on national markets as well as on
the dynamics of regional trade. To this end, the issue of quantitative and qualitative production
development becomes important, given the persistence of non-tariff barriers imposed by the different
legally binding standards in targeted markets. States are now forced to invest in setting up sample and
diagnosis laboratories to ensure quality control of products and adopt stricter pesticide registration and
use, given the maximum residue limit tolerated.