by RICKEY SINGH

STAKEHOLDERS in Guyana on Friday roundly condemned the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and called on regional leaders not to sign it in its present form.

The EPA was initialled last December by the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM) and the European Commission in Barbados.

Senior representatives of the Guyana government, opposition political parties, the trade union movement, the private sector, religious bodies and other non-governmental organisations expressed particular concern about the implications of the EPA for the Caribbean Single Market and Economy.

Karl Falkenberg, the European Union (EU) chief negotiator, and Henry Gill, head of the CRNM, were among a specially invited panel who participated in the one-day consultation, which was called by President Bharrat Jagdeo.

The consultation concluded, however, with a "consensus statement" in favour of signing a "goods only" aspect of the full economic partnership.

Threats

The stakeholders nevertheless expressed deep concern that their meeting took place in an environment in which CARIFORUM (CARICOM plus the Dominican Republic) countries have been threatened by the EU with the application of higher tariffs on their principal exports into the EU unless they signed the EPA, according to a release from Guyana's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

They voiced strong disappointment over many aspects of the EPA, but particularly over the inclusion of the so-called "Singapore issues" – investment, competition and government procurement – which remain contentious and unsettled in the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

According to an official statement, President Jagdeo was "collectively mandated" to advise his CARICOM colleagues at Wednesday's special summit of Caribbean Community Heads of Government to be held at the Sherbourne Conference Centre that "Guyana is willing to sign a 'goods only' segment of the EPA".

This position, it was explained, would "allow the EPA to be signed with enough time to renegotiate the 'Singapore issues' and services which offer few real opportunities to Caribbean businesses, but open the regional markets to European service providers . . . ."

Viewed as a challenging position, the Guyana Consensus on the EPA is expected to spark some political fireworks at the summit on Wednesday.

That summit was partly fixed for Wednesday to allow Guyana to conclude its scheduled consultation.

Stakeholders were also deeply upset that Falkenberg would not accept the proposal of a "goods only" agreement from Jagdeo.

Compatible

They said such an agreement was fully compatible with WTO requirements, while negotiations continue on trade in services and the "Singapore Issues".

The meeting also noted that the 79-member African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) bloc of countries, linked with the EU in trade and economic relations, will be holding their sixth summit in Accra, Ghana, October 2 to 3, and expressed alarm at the prospect of the Caribbean signing a full EPA virtually on the eve of the ACP summit which is scheduled to discuss the EPA.

Other invited panellists included, Dr Roger Hosein, Emily Jones, Shantal Munro-Knight, Sir Ronald Sanders, Dr Christopher Stevens, Sir Shridath Ramphal and Professor Clive Thomas.

See Pages 12A and 13A