|
EPA TRADE AGREEMENT: To sign or not to sign? |
|
|
|
|
Written by Peter Richards
|
|
Monday, 01 September 2008 |
|
Page 2 of 2
"We have always resisted this. We thought that this would be problematic because they're breaking the traditional ACP solidarity that we had and you know with solidarity comes strength, especially with negotiations and secondly to argue for WTO compatibility, for small countries, developing countries in the world.
"This was contrary to the spirit of successive international agreements which argued that there should be special and differential treatment of these countries in international trade and economic international relations," he said.
However, the Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, one of the main supporters of the EPA, urged his colleagues to sign because "it is preferable to sign than not to”.
Spencer, who is also the Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister, has said that it is still possible for the Caribbean to sign the agreement next month, even while holding on to the possibility of renegotiating some of the measures afterwards.
"What we would really hope is that everybody will be on board. It (united position) doesn't always work. There are issues that have been raised not only by Guyana and Grenada, but by individuals in the Caribbean who are passionate about the Caribbean and its future.
St. Lucia's Prime Minister Stephenson King, like the new Grenada Prime Minister, Tillman Thomas, is not ready to sign.
"Based on the advice we have been receiving from several quarters we, as members of the Caribbean Community, are now in a better position to say let us slow down a minute and engage in a further review of the real value of the EPA to the region.
In Jamaica, where the Bruce Golding administration has said it would sign, the main opposition People's National Party (PNP) says it plans to raise serious concerns about the EPA when Parliament resumes next month.
Former prime minister and PNP president Portia Simpson Miller has called a special caucus of the party's executive committee and parliamentary group for Monday to review and finalize the PNP's position on the EPA.
The Caribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC) said it welcomed the new position by some governments.
"CPDC will like to reiterate its call for Caribbean governments to push for the renegotiation of the agreement even at this time, to correct the flaws and the contentious areas within the agreement," it said.
The Barbados-based NGO is also urging the Caribbean "to push for renegotiation to ensure that the agreement will have long-term benefits, create tangible sectoral linkages and, most importantly, remove the less than progressive elements of the agreement".
<< Start < Prev 1 2 Next > End >>
|
News 
