27 September 2007 - A. Aisha Caleb-Browne

With the fast approach of a 31 Dec., deadline for the current Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), the Caribbean is being warned that if measures are not taken to unite as a formidable group, it could spell disaster for regional economies.

Economic Partnership Agreements have been established as a means through which those countries that make up the African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) states grouping can benefit from international free trade, and serve as a direct response to criticism that preferential trade agreements offered by the EU are incompatible with WTO rules.

At a media gathering in St. Vincent yesterday, Caribbean journalists were enlisted as vital proponents in this issue, and were urged to play a more proactive role by taking a critical look at the status of the trade agreement with the European Union (EU) in an effort to truly explore the “true meaning of regional trade and what it means to the thousands of farmers in the Caribbean.”

As one of the session’s chief facilitators, Christopher Sinckler of the Caribbean Policy Development Centre, gave a synopsis of the current EPA that presiding groups, including the over 78 nations in the ACP, have signed on to with Europe.

He noted that a non-reciprocal trading agreement was forged between the European Commission (EC) and the ACP for over three decades. This, he said, allowed some leverage for the lesser developed countries to trade with the more skilled and developed countries under a preferential agreement.

Sinkler added that as time went on, there were amendments made to these agreements, particularly with the realisation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). These changes primarily included larger countries such as the United States, Europe and Canada.

But according to Sinkler, with the establishment of the WTO came a number of changes which have occurred over time, particularly as it relates to trading relations with Canada, Europe and the United States. He added also that these changes have allowed the ACP to be discriminated against to the benefit of the more developed countries.

As a result, the WTO allowed industrialised countries to discriminate against the smaller, developing countries with exclusive preferential arrangements. “In 1996 ... a decision was taken to the EC, to grant waivers to ACP countries, which seek to continue this preferential treatment; this was granted for over a 10-year period with the intention of having a new agreement and at the end of this year that agreement will expire.

“This will now mean that the preferential treatment that we now enjoy will no longer exist. So when this happens, Europe now could import goods and services to the ACP’s without the levying of tariffs. This will have significant problems to the regional economies.”

It was further revealed that the Caribbean phase of negotiations was launched in April 2004 in Kingston, Jamaica. This initial phase sought to establish a timetable and the approach for the negotiations. A second phase was explored in September, 2005; these were negotiated as Cariforum, the Caribbean and the Dominican Republic. This, however, created a number of problems for Caricom since the region does not have any integration arrangements with the Dominican Republic.

According to Sinkler the draft of the new agreement is in progress, but a number of outstanding issues must first be addressed lest they interfere with the December deadline.

If the agreements are not decided upon and signed by the year-end deadline, the EU and the ACP will have no alternative, legally, than to make the transition to the EU Generalised System of Preferences which would in consequence mean less generous tariff preferences for many ACP countries.

But the bottom line according to some Caribbean realists is that no agreement is better than a bad agreement. They are further urging the nations’ leaders and stakeholders not to leave the bargaining table putting them at a disadvantage as the Caribbean region is not wealthy enough to absorb what would be a drastic shock to an already fragile economic structure.
 

Source: http://www.antiguasun.com/