The European Economic Community's Common Agricultural Policy acts as a severe constraint to the provision of freer access in the EEC market for agricultural exports from ACP countries. This constraint does not apply in the case of tropical agricultural products and greater progress has therefore been made in liberalising access for these products, both on a preferential basis under the Lomé Convention and Qther special arrangements and on a wider basis under the Generalised Scheme of Preferences. For CAP products, liberalisation poses special problems arising from the sensitive nature of the trade in most of these products and from the technical difficulties involved in accommodating preferential arrangements within the CAP framework.