A little over five years ago the countries of Cariforum signed an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Europe. This asymmetrical free trade arrangement was meant to improve exports of Cariforum goods and services to Europe and to encourage regional integration.
The agreement which was then, and still is contentious, is likely again to become the subject of debate as the year goes on.
Speaking in Montego Bay on April 15 at Caribbean Export’s third Cariforum-EU Business Forum, Percival Marie, the Director General of Cariforum, made clear that recently completed technical studies undertaken separately by Caribbean and European experts suggest that the agreement has