Lome Convention - Explained
What is the Lome Convention?
Written by J. Mance Gordon
Updated at April 21st, 2024
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What is the Lome Convention?
This was an agreement by the European Community to provide aid and extend trade and tariff preferences to 62 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states.
First held in 1975 at the capital of Togo, Lome, it was an agreement to increase foreign aid to about 71 countries by the European Community. This allows them to export goods duty free to Europe based on the provision that they do not compete with European goods.
After coming into effect in 1976 and renegotiated several times, it was replaced by the Cotonou Agreement in 2000 when the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled it anti-competitive.
What is the History of the Lome Convention?
Designed to provide a new framework of cooperation between the then European Economic Community and developing African, Caribbean and Pacific countries with emphasis on former British, Dutch, Belgian and French colonies, the first Lome convention (Lome 1) came into force in April 1976. It was focused on the aid and investment commitment of the EEC to the ACP countries and provision for duty free exports of most ACP agricultural and mineral exports into the EEC with a preferential access given to products such as sugar and beef. Having been renegotiated and renewed three times, the WTO in 1995 petitioned by the US ruled against the Lome convention. The set up of another panel to discuss the dissatisfaction of the US led to the European Union negotiating an agreement with the US through the WTO.