This story is taken from the Guyana Chronicle Newspaper and it really does not say a whole lot about the Caribbean leaders
In the face of threats to its main exports to the bloc
GUYANA will sign the controversial new trading agreement with the European Union (EU) under threats to its main exports to the bloc and in solidarity with other countries in the Caribbean, President Bharrat Jagdeo announced yesterday.
But he said Guyana will press for the mounting of a massive lobby for a better Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) within the 79-nation African, Caribbean, Pacific (ACP) group.
He maintained that the signing of the agreement by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Dominican Republic at this time is a betrayal of the ACP.
Mr. Jagdeo has opposed the agreement and has pushed for two clauses to be included before Guyana signs on:
** The first is that in its implementation should any of the provisions of the EPA conflict with the CARICOM Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas the revised treaty would take precedence, thereby safeguarding the regional integration process.
** The second is for a review of the EPA every five years to look at the socio-economic impact of the agreement on the people of the region and a commitment by Europe to address the adverse impact.
Mr. Jagdeo said Guyana fought for the inclusion of these two clauses and now other countries are shamelessly taking credit for them.
He said Guyana will also sign on to the EPA if the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules is imposed on this country’s exports to Europe.
Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to Guyana, Mr. Geert Heikens, told reporters here, on Monday, that for countries not signing the EPA, there will be no agreement and the GSP will be applied according to WTO rules.
Heikens said the EPA would benefit both parties noting that it addresses not only goods but services and trade issues as well.
President Jagdeo last week said top officials of the European Commission and governments in Europe had confided in him that some CARICOM members had asked them to “lean hard” on Guyana to sign the EPA with the EU in its current form.
Mr. Jagdeo told reporters at his office the unnamed CARICOM members argued that they would lose face if Guyana were to succeed in getting key changes to the agreement.
“I firmly believe it’s a bad agreement for the region and that’s why I continue to fight and seek changes to the agreement…(but) some countries seem more interested in saving face than getting a better agreement”, he said.
Despite his disappointment at the turn of events, Mr. Jagdeo said Guyana remains a strong member of CARICOM. “I don’t allow setbacks on one issue to daunt me…I can’t hold the future of the people of this region hostage based on my current likes or dislikes.”
He said the push by some in the region to sign the deal on October 15 was a “slap in the face” of other members of the ACP that took a stand at their summit which ended earlier this month in the Ghana capital, Accra.
It could undermine ACP unity, he warned, and said the Accra decision can lead to a better EPA for the bloc.
The summit agreed that a troika representing the entire grouping should meet by the end of this month and lobby Europe on the concerns raised about the current EPA and “try to get a more favourable EPA” for the ACP.
“It was agreed that a troika will continue to pursue our concerns at the highest level in the European Union”, he said.
He stressed that by not signing the EPA, Guyana has more to lose than any other CARICOM member and it should have been in the front row of those moving to conclude the new arrangement.
Fifty-three percent of this country’s imports from Europe already come in without any tariffs, so that Guyana, in the first five years, does not have to commit to any serious liberalisation.
It also stands to lose the most because it is the largest commodity exporter to Europe, he maintained.
Guyana’s exports to Europe include sugar, rice and rum.
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