As the newly elected President of the Organization of Africa, Caribbean and Pacific States Joint Parliamentary Assembly (OACPS), Uganda’s Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa has announced that he will prioritize discussions aimed at addressing the European Union’s restrictions on the export of certain crops.
Tayebwa made the statement during a House session on March 3, 2025, shortly after his election as OACPS President.
With this position, he also takes on the role of Co-chair of the OACPS-European Union Joint Parliamentary Assembly, which meets alternately in ACP and EU nations, adhering to democratic principles.
He emphasized that the EU’s regulations prohibiting exports of crops grown on land that was once forested or tree-covered will be a key issue during his tenure leading this international organization.
“Europeans are saying if our coffee, tea and cocoa were planted in an area with trees since 2020, then they won’t be able to enter their markets. We are saying, even when you are promoting climate change, you must do it in a sustainable and a just way,” Tayebwa said adding that, ’we are going to see a way of harmonising it, we do not want to end up suffocating people from poor countries. We are going to have hard negotiations where some of you [MPs] will be involved’.
Equally priority on his agenda as the President is negotiating favourable terms of trade, for easy access to European market, which he said remains Uganda’s biggest trading partner.
“EU is where 70 per cent of our coffee is going; it is a crucial market if you look at how much gold tax we are getting from then. We have registered a trade surplus worth €150 million,” said Tayebwa.
He noted that he is committed to achieving Uganda’s removal from the list for anti-money laundering and terrorism financing black list, saying it is hampering European investors with interests in Uganda.
The Chairperson of the Committee on Climate Change, Lawrence Biyika asked Tayebwa to hold the European countries accountable for natural resources exploitation in Africa, which in some areas resulted into deadly conflicts.
“There are companies from the EU known for exploiting natural resources leading to conflicts in areas such as Chad, Somalia and Bamenda, Cameroon. Some of these issues should be discussed, including human rights of women and children who were killed,” Biyika said.
The Minister of State for Industry, David Bahati said he wished to see a regulation requiring Uganda to only export coffee with value addition, observant that the country does not earn as much as those exporting processed coffee and all its products.
