EPA rules clear, flexible by Natasha Beckles (Nation News)

 

TWO REGIONAL TRADE SPECIALISTS have urged Barbadian manufacturers to explore all trade and assistance opportunities provided under the CARIFORUM-European Union (EU) Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).

Errol Humphrey, consultant on EPA implementation to the Ministry Of Foreign Affairs And Foreign Trade, said not enough companies were exploring unfamiliar markets or seeking to access available funding.

Speaking last Thursday during a seminar hosted by the Barbados Private Sector Trade Team at the Barbados Chamber of Commerce & Industry, he noted that Caribbean Export has €28 million (BDS$72 million) this budget year for improving private sector competitiveness and innovation in CARIFORUM countries.

“The last time I checked, Barbadian companies were not breaking down the door to get some of that money, and Caribbean Export is in Barbados,” he said.

Humphrey, a former Barbados ambassador to Brussels, added that the EPA makes it possible for local producers to access the Dominican Republic market in the same way they can access EU markets.

However, he said many businesspeople seemed “afraid” to capitalize on this.

“If you’re prepared, and you should be, to do business with [Britain], with the United States, with Canada . . . the Dominican Republic is a small country. You can’t be afraid of them.

“If you’re concerned about Spanish . . . we live in a world that is becoming increasingly global.

“Our neighbours are Hispanic . . . and I think we do ourselves an injustice if we do not seek to engage our Spanish-speaking neighbours in terms of doing business,” he said, noting that businesspeople in these countries often speak English.

Meanwhile, Dr Chantal Ononaiwu, trade policy and legal specialist in the CARICOM Secretariat’s Office of Trade Negotiation, stressed that the EPA also provides access to the French territories of Martinique, Guadeloupe and French Guiana.

The attorney added that the flexibility of the rules of origin under the Agreement can be advantageous to local manufacturers.

These rules allow goods which incorporate materials from certain countries to be considered of local origin so they can qualify for duty-free and quota-free access to the EU.

These countries include CARIFORUM states, EU overseas territories, African Caribbean and Pacific countries as well as neighbouring Latin American countries, Ononaiwu said.

She noted that this not only helps individual producers but also promotes CARIFORUM states as an attractive base for exporting products to Europe. (NB)

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Date Posted

May 01 2012