Renegotiate the EPA; by Havelock Brewster, Norman Girvan and Vaughan Lewis
Revised version (23/03/08) of a memorandum originally submitted to the Caricom Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on 27 February 2008. Also published in Trade Negotiations Insights, 7,3 (April 2008), pp. 8-11
Related Items
CRNM Response (c. 5/03/08)
EPAs: the Way Forward. Commonwealth-ACP Meeting (8/04/08)
EPA to be signed in July. Caricom Secretariat (11/05/08).
‘There is still room for negotiation on the EPA’ Prime Minister David Thompson (15/04/08).
‘Review Agreement before Signing’. Anthony Hylton Jamaica Gleaner, (14/01/08)
The announced departure of the Director-General of the CRNM, Richard Bernal, from the CRNM to join the IDB, referred to as a “timely career move” by The Jamaica Gleaner (April 25, 2008), combined with the criticism of the EPA expressed by the first head of the CRNM, Sir Shridath Ramphal, including his statement that “It is time that the EU be stopped in its anti-development drive through these EPAs” (Trinidad and Tobago Express, Jamaica Observer, March 27, 2008), is not good news for the CRNM. One wonders whether CARICOM leaders, in their search for a new CRNM Director-General, will seize the apparent opportunity to initiate change within the CRNM that may serve the interests of the region.
There is a lot of potential to really make a positive difference to The Caribbean’s vulnerability and its economic prospects, and there is still time to do so. It is with this in mind that I take this opportunity to urge all members and friends of the region to use our collective will to impress upon our Regional Leaders not to sign the present deals being offered under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU), on 30th June, 2008 as to do so is to commit the Region’s economy to a catastrophic future.
The analysis carried out by Oxfam entitled, “Partnership or Power Play?’ has indicated that unless the deal is overhauled this agreement will do irrevocable damage to the development prospects of some of the poorest and most vulnerable countries in the world including those of the Caribbean. These deals have strayed from the development template they were suppose to follow and it is now in the best interest of the Caribbean and other members of the ACP to hold out for a better deal.
The cost to these already over-burden countries will be enormous: annual losses from tariff, the loss of independent trade policy and very limited scope to retain any protection highlights the pending cataclysmic consequences of signing-on to EPA in its present form.
The analysis highlighted further weakness in the offer as follows:
o The deals create significant barriers to integration between existing regional partner countries and in several instances fragment existing regional bloc.
o The offer fails to tackle food insecurity, though allowing some amount of protection. However, the weak safeguards in the deals unnecessarily exposed our small-scale farmers to sudden surge in competition from imports which have the effect of undermining our staple food market.
o The deals only make it slightly easier for the Caribbean and other ACP countries to export to Europe. In return, these countries are required to dramatically open their markets to imports from Europe. Nevertheless, Europe is set to open up to other developing countries which would make the immediate gains temporary.
o The Offer fails to support innovation as stricter intellectual property rules undermine access to knowledge and there exist a toothless commitment to technology transfer.
o The deals tie the hands of the Caribbean and other ACP government to make it harder to manage investment in the Public’s Interest.
o The deals severely constrain effective regulation and threaten universal access to vital services.
Ministers, MPs, trade, and development experts and academics from all over especially from within the African, Caribbean and Pacific region have all questioned the current approach.
The EPA negotiations started six years ago and involved 76 countries from the ACP region which includes the Caribbean, as at December 2007 only a mere 35 countries initialled the document let alone signed-on to it.
The spirit in which the initial discussions on EPA were conducted must be fully reflected in the deals presently on the table for consideration. If we accept that we should be masters of our own destiny then we will equally have to accept that the world owes us no obligations.
Notwithstanding, in a fair world and in a fair deal, Europe would fully open its markets to all exports without demanding reciprocation. It would give developing countries the policy freedom to govern in the public interest and pursue regional integration on their own terms. And it would assist these countries to become more competitive, generate decent jobs and access new technologies. However, rather than reflecting the development needs of the Caribbean and other ACP countries, the texts tend to reflect negotiating capacity and EU interests.
With the rapid growth of emerging markets as a source of investment and trade it is an inopportune time to lock the region into a bad deal with Europe.
What is urgently required before the Region’s Leaders signs EPA are listed but not limited to the following:
• A thorough independent evaluation of what has been initialled.
• Adaptation of existing EU preference schemes to ensure that the Caribbean is not left worse off if it doesn’t conclude an EPA.
• Renegotiation of problematic aspects of the initialled deals.
• Full consultation with all affected parties including workers, producers and businesses.
• Vigorous engagement by parliaments to allow for full scrutiny of the deals.
In the course of negotiation we can accept that well-intentioned deals may be badly designed, let us now take a fresh look at these deals as we cannot afford for our leaders to get this wrong.
Please sign and forward this petition now, as time is not on our side.
The above petition can be signed at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/jamaicaepa
Feel free to contact me at andrew@okola.co.uk.
Andrew O’Kola