Goods and services coming from ACP countries previously enjoyed preferential access to the EU markets under the Lomé Agreement. However, with the onset of globalization and trade liberalization, and increasing opposition from WTO states, the ACP countries and the EU agreed to develop new WTO-compatible trading arrangements, progressively removing barriers to trade between them and enhancing cooperation in all areas relevant to trade. These new arrangements would be termed Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) and fell under the new Cotonou Agreement, which defined economic relations between the EU and the ACP since 2000.

What does the EPA cover?

The EPA comes into effect from January 1st, 2008 and covers areas such as Market Access, Services and Investment, Trade Related Issues, Legal and Institutional Issues and Development Co-operation.

How were regional negotiations organised?

The structure developed within the region to deal with EPA negotiations involved:

• Heads of Government providing overall direction and decision making

• Appointment of a Lead Ministerial Spokesperson, the former Senior Minister of Barbados, Dame Antoinette (Billie) Miller

• CARICOM’s Council on Trade and Economic Development (COTED), which made recommendations, approved strategies and positions and gave overall guidance on the approach to negotiations.

• The Principal Negotiator -The Director-General of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM), Ambassador Richard Bernal of Jamaica, who together with his EC counterpart would meet to resolve sticking points in the negotiations.

• Locally, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) led Trinidad and Tobago’s preparation in the EPA negotiating process, establishing a Technical Coordinating Committee (TCC) comprising officials from various Government Ministries, private sector groupings such as the TTMA, and the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce, NGOs, Labour groupings and other civil society groups which approved positions which fed into the regional process. The Ministry held wide consultations, developed market surveys, guiding principles for trade liberalization and several negotiating briefs to develop Trinidad and Tobago’s position in the regional process.

For Trinidad and Tobago, and indeed the CARIFORUM nations, signing the EPA ensures the following:

• Regional exporters have secured duty free, quota free access to the markets of the EU for almost all products with the exception of rice and sugar.

• Potential revenue effect is minimized by the gradual liberalization of import duties. CARIFORUM has a 25-year timeframe for liberalization of  86.9 percent of EU imports into its market. Where trade is liberalized at once, tariffs for the products are in many cases already set at 0 percent.

• Various non-competitive and sensitive manufactured products have been excluded from tariff liberalization.

• In general the liberalization of various service sectors should lead to increased investment and greater efficiencies.

• Agreement has special provisions for ‘Short Term Visitors for Business Purposes’ in the following areas: research and design, marketing, training, trade fairs, sales; purchasing and tourism

• The regional Services Sector stands to benefit from development assistance from the EU to address a range of needs, including development of regulatory regimes to build the capacity of regional services firms, market intelligence, etc., to facilitate greater interaction with EU firms.

• Regional investors can benefit from liberalization in almost all sectors in the EU with only some exclusions in a few sectors and limitations in mainly the new EU member states.

• The EU has liberalized eleven sectors to allow for temporary entry by Independent Professionals or self-employed persons of CARIFORUM origin these include - Legal advisory services in respect of international public law and foreign law (i.e. non-EU law), Architectural services, Urban planning and landscape architecture services, Engineering services, Translation and Interpretation services, etc.

• A bonafide service provider from the region has the opportunity to stay in any EU member state up to 90 days in a calendar year.

• 25 of 27 EU States have undertaken liberalization commitments in the entertainment services subsector with only a few limitations by some States.

The European Development Fund (EDF) has been the main financing instrument of ACP-EU co-operation since 1958. The 10th European Development Fund (EDF) programme, which is to run from 2008-2013, is estimated at $165mn, with $132 million allocated to CARIFORUM to be applied to the Regional Indicative Programme and $33 million to be allocated directly to EPA participation and commitment making.

What happens next here in T&T?

For the EPA to come into being, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago is required to bring legislation before the Parliament for debate. TheCabinetmust give its approval and instruct the Chief Parliamentary Counsel’s Office to prepare the necessary Bill to take to Parliament. Currently, the main priority is the implementation and awareness of the EPA, which is in effect via provisional application by both Parties until June 30, 2008. This means that the necessary arrangements, legislative or administrative, must be in place as of June 30, 2008 to effect this agreement. For Trinidad  and Tobago, this means

•  Preparation of CARIFORUM-EC EPA Bill

•  Debate of the draft Bill in Parliament, its passage and then ratification of the CARIFORUM-EC EPA Act

• Amendment of various pieces of domestic legislation, in particular, changes in the Customs Act for the liberalization of customs duties for European imported products; and

• Changes in administrative practices – an example here is customs matters and trade facilitation issues of the Customs and Excise Division