Lomé Convention

Lomé Convention (28 Feb. 1975) A trade agreement between the EEC (European integration) and 64 countries in the Caribbean, the Pacific, and Africa, all former colonies of the EEC member states, signed in the Togolese capital of Lomé. It waived the tariffs for goods entering the EEC from these countries, and provided for substantial economic and development aid. It was succeeded by a number of revised treaties, the most recent being Lomé IV, which was signed by 70 states on 15 December 1989. For ten years this provided for 99.5 per cent of goods imported from the signatory states into the EC to be free of tariffs, and for a development grant of 12 billion ECU (around $16.5 billion) for 1990–5. For the second five-year period under Lomé IV, the EC paid almost 15 billion ECU in aid. Lomé provided substantial aid to the signatory states, and gave their exports substantial advantages. However, there is little evidence that Lomé encouraged the economies of the signatory states to become more efficient. In 2000, the Lomé agreements were replaced by the Cotounou agreements.