crnm - update on the cariforum-ec economic partnership agreement (epa) to the 88th session of the...

8/2/2019 CRNM - Update on the CARIFORUM-EC Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) to the 88th Session of the ACP Cou

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CARIFORUM

UpdateontheCARIFORUMECEconomicPartnershipAgreement

tothe

88th

SessionoftheACPCouncilofMinisters

Brussels,1518December2008


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I. Signing,WTONotificationandProvisionalApplication1. On 15October 2008, thirteenCARIFORUM States and the EC signed the

CARIFORUMECEconomicPartnershipAgreement (EPA)ata ceremony in

Barbados.Guyana subsequently signed theAgreement on 20October in

Brussels.Haiti,theonlyUNdesignatedLDC intheCARIFORUMGroup,has

notyetsignedtheAgreement.

2. ConsistentwiththeDecisionof14December2006bytheGeneralCouncil

of theWTOon TransparencyMechanism forRegional TradeAgreements

(RTAs), theCARIFORUMEUEPAwasjointlynotified to theCommitteeon

Regional TradeAgreements (CRTA) on 16October 2008. The notification

wasmodified

on

October

22

to

reflect

Guyanas

addition

to

the

slate

of

CARIFORUM signatory states. Two factors contributed to the prompt

notificationoftheAgreement.Thefirstwasthethen impendingAppellate

Body hearing on bananas (1617October) and the desire to ensure that

therewaslegalcoverageforthepreferencebeingaccordedto CARIFORUM

bananas exports. The second was Article 243(3) of the EPA which

committed the parties to commence provisional application of the

Agreementassoonaspossible,butnolaterthan31October2008.

3. The TransparencyMechanism dictates that, as a rule, notificationmust

take place directly following the parties ratification of the RTA or any

partysdecisiononapplicationoftherelevantpartsofanagreement,and

before the application of preferential treatment between the parties.

Consequently, itwasnecessaryforthetwoSidestonotifytheAgreement

priortothedateagreedforthecommencementofprovisionalapplication.

4.

TheSecretary

General

of

the

Council

of

the

European

Union

is

the

depository for the Agreement. Only one of the fourteen signatory

CARIFORUM states is still tonotify theECDepository that the conditions

necessaryforprovisionalapplicationoftheAgreementhavebeenfulfilled.

GiventheregiontoregionnatureoftheEPA,provisionalapplicationbythe

CARIFORUM party will only take effect when all of the CARIFORUM


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signatorieshave individuallycompletedthedomesticprocedurenecessary

to enable provisional application or ratification. It is anticipated that the

remainingsignatoryCARIFORUMstatewilldeposititsnotificationshortly.

II.WTOTransparencyMechanism5. Due to the presence of a nonWTOMember (The Bahamas) among the

signatories to theCARIFORUMEC EPA, theWTOCommittee onRegional

TradeAgreements (CRTA)hasnot issueda schedule for itsconsideration.

WTO Members are yet to establish procedures on the consideration of

RTAs includingaWTOnonMemberand it isunclearwhen consensuson

thisissuewillbereached.Further,currently,theWTOSecretariathasinits

queue46RTAsforwhichfactualpresentationsremainoutstanding.

6. ItshouldbenotedthattheinclusionofaWTOnonMemberisnotconfined

to theCARIFORUMEC EPA.WTOnonMembers arealso inotherAfrican

andPacificgroupingssuchasESA.

III.RPTFstateofplay7. TheCARIFORUMECRegional Preparatory Task Force (RPTF) continues to

implement its work programme of overseeing the execution of a

comprehensiveset

of

studies.

These

studies

are

aimed

at

assisting

in

providingtheECandotherpotentialdonorswithabetterunderstandingof

the regionsneeds, translating thecooperationprovisionsof theEPA into

concrete and actionable sector programmes destined for any potential

donor,detailingtimingandactivitiesrequired inordertoallowtheregion

to fully implement the commitments in theAgreement.Effortsarebeing

madetoacceleratetheworkoftheTaskForce.

8.

Thelast

meeting

of

the

Task

Force

was

held

on

9th

December

2008

in

Barbados. To date, studies chronicling CARIFORUM support needs have

beencompletedinthefollowingsixareas:

CompetitivenessandInnovation;

CustomsandTradeFacilitation;


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CompetitionPolicy;

PublicProcurement,

TechnicalBarrierstoTrade;and

SanitaryandPhytosanitaryMeasuresforFisheriesAccesstoEUmarket.

9. Terms of reference for the launchof studies in severalother areas have

also been completed. The CARIFORUM is currently working with the

Commissiontofinalisetermsofreferencefortheremainingareas.

10.With the recent signing of theCaribbeanRegional Indicative programme

(CRIP) on November 15 on the occasion of the European Development

Days,the

financial

framework

is

now

in

place

for

drawing

down

resources

tofundprogrammesidentifiedinthecompletedstudies.

IV.EPAImplementationissues11.TheCARIFORUMECEPAisacomprehensiveagreementcovering,interalia,

trade inGoods, Services and Investment, Competition Policy, Innovation

and Intellectual Property, Transparency in Public Procurement,

EnvironmentandSocialAspects,andPersonalDataProtection.Thereisalso

anoverarching

Development

Chapter,

which

outlines

the

scope

and

cooperation priorities, such as support to build human, legal and

institutional capacity, promotion of private sector and enterprise

development, diversification of export base and support to develop

infrastructurenecessarytoconducttrade.Thischapteriscomplementedby

subjectspecificdevelopmentcooperationpriorities.

12.Implementation of the CARIFORUMEC EPA is critical in exploiting the

economicopportunities

presented

by

this

modern

trade

and

development

agreement. Implementation assumes even greater importance especially

given that thepursuitofstrengthenedCARIFORUMregional integration is

oneofthecentraltenetsunderlyingtheEPA.


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13.CARIFORUM has already started to give consideration to an EPA

ImplementationRoadMap.TheRoadMap,whichwillberefinedbasedon

the output of the studies, sets out the legislative and policy actions

requiredatthenationalandregional levels;timelinesforaccomplishment

ofeach

action;

an

estimate

of

the

resources

required

for

the

implementation of EPA commitments; and possible sources of funding,

includingthosealreadycommittedbytheEC.Inaddition,severalMember

Stateshaveestablishedorare in theprocessofestablishingnationalEPA

ImplementationUnits.

14.While themajor implementing legislationwillnotbeneeded immediately

upon provisional application of the Agreement, some immediate action

itemsare

triggered,

such

as

the

need

to

convene

initial

meetings

of

the

institutionalbodiesandmorespecificallytheJointCARIFORUMECCouncil

andtheTradeandDevelopmentCommitteeuponprovisionalapplicationof

theAgreement.

V.RecentActivities15.In addition to the dissemination of information to stakeholders on the

CARIFORUMEC EPA, CARIFORUM has initiated actions aimed at taking

advantageof

the

opportunities

under

the

EPA.

Specifically,

in

September

2008, a study tour of European capitalswas conducted involving several

Caribbean organisations and business owners, including the Caribbean

Associationof IndustryandCommerce,CaribbeanExportAgencyand the

CaribbeanRegionalNegotiatingMachinery. The tour focussed onmatch

making of Caribbean and European businesses in the area of creative

industryandInformationandCommunicationTechnology(ICT).

16.

CARIFORUMand

the

EC

also

held

its

first

Business

Forum

on

24

25

November inBarbados. The Business Forum aims to build private sector

capacity in the CARIFORUM region by providing a platform to facilitate

dialoguebetweenCARIFORUMandEuropean firmsand investors.Among

theissuesdiscussedweretheopportunitiesandchallengesassociatedwith

doingbusinessinEuropeandtheCARIFORUMregionintheareaofservices


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exportfromageneralandsectoralperspectiveaswellashowtoeffectively

usetheEPAasatooltoexpandtradebetweenthetworegions

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