Guyana officially de-recognises UK in trade pact with EU

Nov 26, 2019 News

The Guyana Government shares a historical trading relationship with the European Union (EU) but developments in that section of the world, namely the likely United Kingdom’s (UK) exit from the union—Brexit—has since been concretised to no longer recognise the former colonizer as a part of the EU.
The order which was made under the hand of Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, amends the existing Customs Act, to create a distinction between UK and the EU when it comes to the Economic Partnership Agreement EPA) that was inked with the EU and CARIFORUM.
Guyana as a member of CARICOM is a CARIFORUM country and a signatory to the EPA.
According to a November 1, 2019, order made by Jordan and since published in the Official Gazette, “any reference to the United Kingdom in the CARIFORUM-European Community Economic Partnership Agreement” has been deleted.
The order de-recognises the EU as part of the agreement effective October 31, 2019—the date the UK was expected to have officially left the EU—deal or no deal.
Several CARIFORUM countries, following the UK’s vote to exit the EU, had signed onto a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the UK for a separate trading agreement.
The agreement was said to be of significant importance to Guyana particularly since the UK is Guyana’s largest trading partner in Europe and its sixth overall in CARIFORUM.
Furthermore, the UK is an important market for the export of Guyana’s sugar, rice and rum.
At the regional level, absorbing about a quarter of exports from the Caribbean, the UK is the largest trading partner for CARIFORUM.
The MoU served as a direct response to the impending exit of the UK from the EU since the existing trade arrangement governing Guyana’s exports to the British market lapses as long as that State formally leaves the regional body.
Additionally, the move serves as the culmination of an approach agreed between CARIFORUM and the UK in March 2017 to ensure continuity in the existing preferential trading relations, including duty free quota conditions, among others.
Eight other CARIFORUM Member States — Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines — signed the Agreement, while others have signaled their intention to do so shortly.
Guyana, through its Customs’ Order is among the first in CARIFORUM to take the necessary domestic steps that will allow for the Agreement to come into effect as soon as the latter leaves the European Union.

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