27th October 2008

The EU and the Caribbean finalize economic agreement intended to stimulate trade

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Thirteen Caribbean countries and the European Union signed the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) on October 15 in Barbados. The EPA between CARIFORUM countries and the EU is intended to strengthen North-South trade, development, and regional integration in the Caribbean.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, EU Commissioner for Development Louis Michel stated: “This is a groundbreaking step forward for regional integration and development for the Caribbean. This deal creates new opportunities for the region in terms of stronger growth and exports, and more jobs.”

The Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU and the African, Caribbean, and Pacific states (ACP) has been in negotiations since 2004 after previous trade agreements were deemed non-WTO compatible. The deadline for concluding a final EPA expired December 31 2007, leaving many regions rushing to negotiate “interim” Agreements while tumultuous negotiations remain underway. The CARIFORUM signing represents the first full Agreement to be initialled and finalized among the ACP states.

The CARIFORUM regional bloc includes Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Guyana and Haiti abstained from signing the Agreement on October 15. But, just five days later, the Head of the Mission of Guyana to the European Community added his signature to the Agreement on behalf of the Guyanese government. The delayed signing came following intense discussions over Guyana’s request to sign a ‘goods only’ Agreement, as opposed to a comprehensive EPA. Critics of the EPA in both Europe and the Caribbean praised the Guyanese resistance.

The Haitian government, on the other hand, has yet to sign the Agreement, citing specific domestic difficulties and the need for more time to review provisions contained in the text. This comes despite Haiti having initialled the Agreement at the end of last year.

While the EU insists that the CARIFORUM EPA will serve to “stimulate trade, investment and innovation, and to promote sustainable development, build a regional market among Caribbean countries and help eliminate poverty,” many critics have expressed concern over the fairness—or lack thereof—of the negotiations and the final Agreement set in place.

For more information on the signing, view the European Commission press release, by clicking here.

For further information on the Guyanese and Haitian reservations, see the October 2008 issue of Trade Negotiations Insights (TNI) and its sister French-language publication, Eclairage sur les Négociations (ECL).

In depth coverage of the signing will also be available in the November issue of TNI and ECL due out the week of 27 October 2008.