John Myers Jr., Farmers Weekly Coordinator

Trade Ministers of CARIFORUM are still analysing the proposal by the European Union (EU) to remove all remaining tariffs and quota limitations on products coming from African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries.

The group of trade ministers met last Friday at the Pegasus hotel, New Kingston, to analyse the proposal, but said they will make an announcement of their analyses in two weeks.

The EU announced two weeks ago a proposal to remove all remaining tariffs and quota limitations on products from ACP countries. The proposal includes all fruits and vegetables. The offer, however, does not include rice and sugar which are to be phased in later.

Ambassador Richard Bernal, head of the Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM), explained that "we have to evaluate the offer in the context of the overall EPA, to look at what the implications are for us ..."

Concerns

But president of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS), Senator Norman Grant, while welcoming the new proposal from the EU, expressed concern that the group of developing countries could in turn be asked to further open up their markets to goods from Europe.

"We note the position of the EU which we think could be a reasonably positive move that could certainly lead to some positive implications for agriculture in the region," he said. "But I would like to say that the opening up of markets from that end will have some reciprocal moves and there is no doubt in my mind that we could also be asked to open up our markets for the particular products involved."

Agriculture Minister, Roger Clarke, said Jamaica and other ACP countries have to be careful in accepting the EU's proposal because "sometimes there are some inbuilt things that you don't see on the surface so you really have to study it." He added: "We have seen in the past in terms of our own situation where we were induced to reducetariffs left, right and centre and at the end some of our farmers actually were decimated."

Review of the proposal

Ambassador Derick Heaven, noted negotiator and executive chairman of the Sugar Industry Authority, said the regional trade ministers will "review the proposal that the European Union has put on the table (and determine) what should constitute the negotiations for the new Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)."

Ambassador Heaven explained that "because we are now in the final lap of concluding the EPA with the European Union, it is important that our negotiating arm, which is the Regional Negotiating Machinery, be fully instructed by the ministers as to what line it should take in negotiating the many 'knotty' issues that are on the table.

"Sugar is just one. There are bananas, market access, services - a lot of things that have to be negotiated to ensure that this agreement which is going to replace the trade and development part of Cotonou (Agreement) be done properly and to mutual benefit," Ambassador Heaven noted.