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Marsha Drakes, Tel: (246) 430-1678                                  marsha.drakes@crnm.org

For Immediate Release:                                                                                  No. 17/2007
December 17, 2007

THE EPA NEGOTIATIONS COMPLETED

The CARIFORUM EPA Negotiations have been completed.  The text was initialed in the wee morning hours on December 16, 2007. While the culmination of this negotiation process has come later than previously scheduled, CARIFORUM countries, by completing the EPA before the end of the year, have ensured that their product exports to the EU will not have to face GSP treatment or face MFN duties in 2008.  Effective January 1, 2008, with a temporary exception for rice and sugar, all CARIFORUM goods will be entitled to duty-free and quota-free access to the European Union.  Importantly, CARIFORUM is the first group within the ACP to secure a comprehensive agreement that covers not just goods but services, investment, and trade related issues such as innovation and intellectual property.

Principal Negotiator, CRNM’s Director General Ambassador Dr. Richard Bernal, after completing the negotiations said,

“This is a momentous and proud achievement for the Region. Our success in completing this agreement, though hard won, has secured opportunity for trade expansion, economic development and the improvement of the welfare of the CARIFORUM people. What we have attained within this agreement is unprecedented within the Region. Certainly, the CARIFORUM region is the only of the six negotiating ACP groups to successfully complete a comprehensive EPA with Europe. The stewardship of the Heads and the active, robust participation of our Region’s stakeholders, including the technicians, the private sector, the officials and civil society have made this possible.”

In the recent past, it was uncertain whether CARIFORUM–EU negotiations would have resulted in the requisite compromise to seal an Agreement in time.  The priority of CARIFORUM countries has always been to ensure that the details of the Agreement met core standards to make it ‘a good deal’.   As the Principal Negotiator continued to explain “This is a sound agreement and strong on the key areas necessary to cultivate development within the Region.”

He highlighted, with respect to market access in goods, that “It is a commonly accepted interpretation of international rules that in Regional Free Trade Agreements like the EPAs, the requirement to liberalize ‘substantially all trade’ suggests liberalization at a level of 90% within 10 years. The CARIFORUM EU EPA has transcended that understanding.  Instead, given our development peculiarities, we have reached an agreement which has reduced the burden of liberalization for CARIFORUM but in a manner that would still allow us to meet WTO requirements. Furthermore, we have secured flexibilities that in some cases provide an unprecedented grace period of 25 years before liberalization may be fully implemented, which will give CARIFORUM countries the time to adjust to the brunt of liberalization.”

“In services we placed emphasis on the inclusion of market access, and financial as well as non-financial development assistance for the subsectors of tourism and entertainment in particular. This we insisted was important to bring almost immediate dividends to a number of CARIFORUM people. In this regard, CARIFORUM was triumphant in securing the commitment of the European Commission. The EC should also find satisfaction in this triumph as Europe, despite its own domestic reservations and sensitivities was able to give meaningful concessions in such areas so critical and vital to our Region’s development.”

“We were also able to protect the interests of our vulnerable small and medium enterprises in a manner that is consistent with their development needs. This was evident for example in our negotiations in transparency in government procurement. By not negotiating market access commitments, small and medium enterprises will not be in danger of being pushed out of the market for government contracts by European firms. Member States determined that this was not to our detriment but on the contrary, was very much to our benefit.  Securing transparency for government contracts helps reduce the likelihood of corruption. Additionally, it signals to investors and the rest of the business world that this Region is open to business and follows international best practice. Furthermore, transparency in the process of government procurement provides opportunities for regional firms to aspire to the standards necessary to attain large government contracts. These examples are but a few.  This agreement has been well crafted and I am confident that it is indicative of the best possible deal.”

The DG was also clear to conclude that notwithstanding the strength of the Agreement it was necessary that the EPA is used appropriately as a tool for development. He said,

“While the Region’s stakeholders have worked earnestly to complete this Agreement appropriately, the Region has only just begun to embark on the task at hand.  The focus in the New Year for all stakeholders must shift to the implementation of the Agreement to help chart the repositioning of our Region’s economies.”

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