Guyana will get a minimal increase in its European Union (EU) sugar quota under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), which was signed between the EU and Cariforum countries on Sun-day after four years of negotiations.
However, Minister of Foreign Trade and Interna-tional Cooperation Dr Henry Jeffrey yesterday told the Stabroek News that under the new agreement, there would be some development aid for this country.
The EPA, which comes into force on January 1, 2008 replaces the Cotonou agreement and the Sugar Protocol, and will see the regional sugar quota increase by 60,000 tonnes. The SP, signed between the EU and ACP sugar producing 32 years ago, had been unilaterally scrap-ped by the EU in September.
Of the 60,000-tonne allocation to the region, the Dominican Republic, which was not a SP country in the past and had no quota now gets a 30,000-tonne allocation. Guyana, which already has a quota of 161,000 tonnes, will share the rest of the new allocation with Belize and Jamaica. “At least we got something out of that,” he said.
However, Jeffrey added that he believed the agreement’s intention is get sugar-producing countries on a competitive footing by doing away with the preferential treatment. He said he also felt that the Europeans could have been a little bit more flexible in terms of the timeframe for doing away with the preferences. “It was not to be, because, according to them, they have their own agricultural policy and agricultural reform that they are undertaking,” he said.
Recognising the region’s negotiators led by Director of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery Dr Richard Bernal, Jeffrey said, “They have done well in terms of hard negotiations. It was four years of hard slog and I think for the most part they have come through for us.”
Although, like in any negotiation, the region did not get everything it sought, he noted that one area saw some measure of success as there is to be some development aid.
“It is now for us to use the agreement to try to develop ourselves,” he said noting that under the new agreement there will be new opportunities for people coming here to look for investments.
Jeffrey said that the region now has duty free/quota free access into the EU for 97% of its goods and the region likewise would be opening its market to Europe.
Noting that it was often reported that the region was not an exporter of goods but more of services, Jeffrey said he was aware of the imbalance in trade, and the talks about the region having markets with nothing to sell. However, he said the region now has the opportunity to invite European investment to develop the markets.
“We need to use the limited resources and improve our own business and other environment to our advantage to move the region forward,” he said.
In terms of regional preferences, he said the EU negotiators had concerns that Haiti, being an LDC (Least Deve-loped Country), could be used as a point of cumulation in the Caribbean and advantage taken of Europe under the Everything But Arms (EBA) initiative.
The rules of origin applying to imports under the General System of Preferences, which takes effect from January 1 allow, under certain conditions, for cumulation of origin. Where those conditions are met, inputs from other countries are considered as originating in the exporting country. Provisions on cumulation thus extend the possibilities for producers in beneficiary countries to use such inputs.
The EBA is a unilateral EU initiative adopted in February 2001 that allows LDCs free access to EU markets for all their products and services with the exception of arms and munitions and without any quantitative restrictions.
In terms of trade in services, he said that the EU was asking for substantial coverage agreed to liberalise 65% of its services in the LDCS and 75% in the More Developed Countries (MDCs) over a period of time. Guyana is one of the MDCs.
The EU has finally agreed to allow Caribbean entertainers free access to the European stage as a means of providing service as a part of the creative industry. Italy and Belgium were opposed to this and not France as was earlier reported based on a quote from President Bharrat Jagdeo.
In terms of trade in goods, the region had been asked for an exclusion list of non-dutiable items of 15% of total trade. The region ended with a list of 13.7% to be liberalised over a period covering some 25 years. The majority would however, be liberalized over a 15-year period. Sugar and rice are excluded from the market access but these would also be phased in over a period of time.
Meanwhile, EU Commissioner for Trade Peter Mandelson and Commission-er for Development and Humanitarian Aid Louis Michelin a joint statement said they welcomed the EPA agreed to between the EU and Cariforum. “This agreement will help bring together progressive liberalisation, economic governance, and regional integration to put trade at the service of development in an innovative and ambitious package”.
The agreement, the commissioners’ release said guarantees and extends access for the Caribbean countries’ exports to the EU. The full EPA includes WTO-compatible trade in goods, trade in services, rules on trade related issues, as well as development cooperation.
