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CARICOM should have shown some mettle in EPA
– Sir Shridath Ramphal
Shridath Ramphal
Sir Shridath Ramphal has expressed congratulations to President Bharrat Jagdeo for his ‘wise and courageous’ efforts over influencing the change in the Economic Partnership Agreement.
The amendment of the EPA, Sir Ramphal said in his letter to President Jagdeo, has come out well for the Caribbean, and could have been even better had the rest of CARICOM shown some mettle.
History will record, and the ACP will remember, that Guyana made a brave and noble stand when the Caribbean collapsed before a European negotiating offensive, he said.
“You have prevented October 15 (from) being remembered as a “day of shame in the Region. I am glad that your media statement serves notice of struggles ahead; struggles in which I do not believe you will be as lonely as you have been so far,” Sir Shridath wrote.
The silent majority in the Caribbean, who have been supportive throughout, Sir Shridath stated, will become more assertive; and Europe will discover that this was not the ‘victory’ they believed it was.
“Well before the first ‘mandatory’ review, a new EPA will emerge in a new time. You will have helped to shape the new partnership, and the new time is surely already at hand.”
President Jagdeo did not sign the controversial EPA with the European Union on Wednesday in Barbados.
The President, during a press briefing at State House, said that he intends to sign the agreement by month end, which would allow for the avoidance of the Global System of Preference (GSP).
He did also express what he called to some extent a vindication of Guyana’s struggle, in that it achieved a substantial improvement of the agreement (EPA).
Jagdeo noted that one aspect of the victory was the five-year review of the EPA with a view to improve it as time progresses.
The European Union has also agreed to take note of the Treaty of Chaguaramas as it relates to the conflicts with the EPA.
The EPA between the EU and the CARIFORUM group of Caribbean countries was negotiated between 2004 and 2007 after previous trade arrangements failed to stimulate development and were challenged as discriminatory at the WTO.
It is a binding international agreement that, according to the EU, fully complies with WTO rules and provides security for Caribbean traders and investors.
The deal includes chapters on trade in goods; trade in services; investment; competition; innovation and intellectual property, public procurement and development aid.
The other country that did not sign the agreement was Haiti, despite having initialled the agreement at the end of December last.
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