Introduction
The Economic Partnership Agreement Related Trade and Private Sector Support (EPA TAPSS) Program is a four year, European Union (EU) – funded program under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives (MTIC). The Financing Agreement for EPA TAPSS was signed by the Government of Uganda and the European Union on 14th July 2009. The EPA TAPSS Programme succeeds other EU funded programs in the Trade sector, notably the Uganda Programme for Trade Opportunities and Policy (UPTOP) 2003-2007 and the Technical Support for Economic Partnership Agreement Finalisation (TSEPAF) 2008-2009.
The Programme builds on achievements made in the sector over the past few years, especially the formulation of The National Trade Policy and the securing of duty free and quota free market access for all products to the other four Partner States of the East African Community (EAC) and the twenty seven (27) Member States of the European Union through the EAC Customs Union and the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) respectively. The design of the EPA TAPSS program was spearheaded by the Ministry and the process was informed by an identification study that was conducted in 2007/2008.
