UK steps into row over trade rules

The European Union should not press poor countries to accept rules governing investment, competition and government procurement in return for continued special trade access to European markets, the UK will argue today.

A new policy paper from the UK Department for Trade and Industry intervenes in a controversy over proposed economic partnership agreements (EPAs) the EU is negotiating with African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.

The European Commission has argued that rules on investment, competition and government spending - three of the four so-called "Singapore issues" in world trade - should be incorporated into the EPAs to encourage investment and growth.

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