EPA text released
The Bahama Journal
EPA Text Released
4 April 2008
CARIFORUM states including The Bahamas are now free to perform their respective legal reviews of the Economic Partnership Agreement [EPA] between the grouping and the European Union now that a legal scrub of the document has been completed, the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery [CRNM] Director General Ambassador Richard Bernal confirmed yesterday.
Legal Reviews Underway
CARIFORUM states including The Bahamas are now free to perform their respective legal reviews of the Economic Partnership Agreement [EPA] between the grouping and the European Union now that a legal scrub of the document has been completed, the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery [CRNM] Director General Ambassador Richard Bernal confirmed yesterday.
The text has been authorized by Heads of CARIFORUM for official release.
"The text that has been released reflects the result of the legal scrub which was a verification process that checked the Agreement for errors and consistency in use of terminology," the ambassador said.
"The text has been distributed to member states where a process of legal review has been inaugurated to ensure consistency between the EPA and domestic laws. When that process has been completed, the respective Cabinets can confer authority to a Minister to sign the EPA."
Officials had previously agreed that signature of the EPA text would take place in April. However, that schedule has been scrapped, as the vetting process took longer than expected.
"It is necessary therefore to allow member states enough time to complete their legal review of the text," he said.
"Meanwhile, the European Commission will be completing their internal process of translating the EPA text into all of the official languages. Additionally, the College of Commissioners will be seeking the authority of the EU General Council to sign the Agreement."
Signing by the EC and all the participating CARIFORUM member states must occur before provisional application can be activated.
Officials are eyeing a June 30 deadline for signature of the document and provisional application of the agreement if CARIFORUM Heads stick to their pledge to complete their internal review processes in a timely manner.
The signing of the CARIFORUM- EC Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) has taken longer than was initially anticipated. It is crucial to bear in mind that delays in the signing of the agreement could result in CARIFORUM States losing their preferential access to Europe.
The EPA would provide for continued duty-free, quota-free access for CARIFORUM’s goods on the European market. However, without full signature of the Agreement, CARIFORUM’s preference in that regard does not have legal cover under the law of international trade.
The implications of this reality were brought to light during the meeting of the WTO General Council on 5th February 2008 when Ecuador asked the EC under what legal cover agreed to by WTO members was it providing goods from ACP States with duty free and quota free access while requiring tariffs and limiting to quotas goods originating in other countries.
While the EC has diplomatically averted this issue, it cannot be avoided indefinitely, according to the CRNM.
"Signature would be the only remedy to ensure that CARIFORUM is able to legally secure its rights and obligations under the agreement," it said in a statement.
"It is therefore heartening to note that the Heads of Government have committed themselves to complete their internal review processes by June 30 in order to facilitate the signing and provisional application of the agreement."
The review process being undertaken throughout the region is considered paramount to the inauguration of the implementation of the EPA but that process is also integral to the harmonization of external trade policy and strategy vis-à-vis the treatment of other external trading partners, such as Canada and the United States of America.
As the CRNM looks to the future, it has already completed its own internal reflections on the EPA negotiations, with the aim of identifying core elements of the EPA process that have worked for the region and those which may be improved and incorporated into future negotiations.
Already, the CRNM has concluded that strengthening the consultation components of the negotiating process is "inextricably linked to ensuring the optimum engagement with and participation of key stakeholders, particularly the private sector, whose input is critical to the formulation of the negotiating agenda and strategy."
It has urged increased emphasis on increasing the allocation of resources to facilitate private sector engagement and to build the capacity of firms to identify and articulate defensive and offensive interests in external trade negotiations.
Also, there is a recommendation to find ways to improve the efficiency and efficacy of interaction and dialogue with Non-State Actors (NSAs) "because their improved participation is critical to consensus building."
"While the input of NSAs is desirable, their interests are vast and diverse," the CRNM stated in a brief review.
"Therefore, in order to coherently capture and incorporate these interests, more can and should be done by NSAs in the future to improve their organization to respond to issues in negotiations. Their support and cooperation to improve their participation in this way may be achieved especially by increasing their inputs through analytical studies and research undertakings."
