Home  News Regional News Guyana signs off on trade accord
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Guyana signs off on trade accord |
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Sunday, 26 October 2008 |
GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – Less than a week after 13 Caribbean partners signed off on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Europe, Guyana on Monday followed suit, with the sealing of the accord in Brussels by its Ambassador Dr. Patrick Gomes.
The European Commission, in a brief statement, said it was delighted by Guyana’s move.
“The Commission welcomes the decision by Guyana, which will now join the EU and its Member States and the other 13 Caribbean countries that signed the EPA in Barbados last week in implementing the agreement by the end of the month,” the statement said.
The signing effectively ends months of controversy that has surrounded the agreement which will govern future trade between Europe and the regional grouping known as CARIFORUM that includes members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Dominican Republic.
After accusing Europe of using “bully boy” tactics to force the Caribbean into finalising the document, Guyana’s President Bharrat Jagdeo opted out of October 15 signing in Bridgetown but later promised that “in the spirit of compromise” and given his government’s “strong commitment” to regional integration and solidarity, it would finalise the deal by October 31.
Jagdeo also expressed satisfaction over the fact that he had fought and won a mandatory review of the agreement every five years.
The Guyanese leader had also demanded that the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (the CARICOM Treaty) must take precedence over the EPA, in cases where conflict arises. But this position did not find favour with the Europeans.
The only CARIFORUM country left to sign the agreement is Haiti, which recently installed a new government and has been grappling with the impact of recent natural disasters.
However, the government in Port au Prince has said that also intends to sign the EPA before the October 31 deadline expires.
The Bridgetown signatories are Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, along with the Dominican Republic.
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