Trade department, EU organise dispute settlement training |26 January 2023

The workshop facilitator and participants in a souvenir photograph

With the aim of building capacity on dispute settlement and dispute avoidance, related to dispute that may arise during trade between two parties, a training was organised to empower trade negotiators to contribute more effectively in these discussions, as well as build upon national capacity in trade disputes for the relevant legal institutions in the country.

The three-day training on dispute settlement related to trade agreements was organised recently by the trade department within the Ministry of Finance, National Planning and Trade, in collaboration with the European Union.

The training programme provided participants with a general overview and practical knowledge of dispute settlement and dispute avoidance in international trade agreements. It illustrated the World Trade Organisation (WTO) dispute settlement mechanism, in comparison to the mechanisms provided for in the European Union’s (EU) free trade agreements.

Seychelles, together with four countries of the Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) region ‒ Madagascar, Mauritius and Zimbabwe ‒ signed an interim economic partnership agreement with the EU on August 29, 2009 (hereafter, “the ESA-EU iEPA”). Comoros joined the EPA later, in 2019.

Since the enhanced ESA-EU EPA is also expected to include an investment chapter, the dispute resolution mechanisms provided in the different generations of investment treaties were presented, and a comparison provided with the mechanisms of the new generation free trade agreements.

The sessions were run by Dr David Luff, an experienced lawyer in the field of dispute settlement and international negotiations from January 17-19, 2023 at The Guy Morel Institute (TGMI).

In attendance were public and private sector representatives from the Attorney General’s Office, staff of the Ministry of Investment, Entrepreneurship and Industry and the trade division.

Press release from the Ministry of Finance, National Planning and Trade