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Caribbean


Intellectual property in the EPA: Broad scope huge impact - Part II
Jamaica enacted legislation for the protection of GIs through the Protection of Geographical Indications Act of 2004. However, protection under the law strictly complies with the standards laid out in the TRIPS Agreement and does not contemplate the "TRIPS plus" and "TRIPS extra" elements incorporated in the EPA.
BANGO petitioning for better EPA deal
The Barbados Association of NGOs (BANGO) is seeking 5 000 signatures for a petition calling on Government to work out a better Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Europe.
The EPA: A critical evaluation
Analyses the Cariforum-EC EPA from a critical standpoint, including the EPA architecture, what each side gets from the Agreement, the scope of binding commitments, the institutional machinery and the scope for revision of the Agreement. The points are illustrated with direct quotations from the EPA text.
The anti-development dimension of the European Community’s EPA for the Caribbean
The ACP countries, by opening up their markets freely to European goods, services and companies will be transformed into a state of development via an impressive chain of unproven, theoretical assumptions. The EPA itself is replete with development rhetoric and references to the development objectives of the Agreement, most, if not all, of which are compromised by the content of the Agreement itself. Nowhere in the Agreement is there a direct, targeted attack on the basic supply-side problem, let alone binding commitments to put in place a complement of measures aimed at this problem.
Stop the EU taking the Caribbean for a ride
It has become patently evident that the European Union is taking the Caribbean for a ride over the Economic Partnership Agreement initialled last December. The Caribbean has to stop the ride and renegotiate the deeply troubling aspects of the EPA before any signing takes place.
Trade unions call for renegotiation of EPA
Regional trade unionists have called for a review and renegotiation of the recently initiated Economic Partnership Agreement, negotiated between the EU and the Caribbean Forum countries, Caribbean Community member states and the Dominican Republic.
Anti EPA groups protest at White Hall!
On Thursday June 12, organizations from around the region staged a protest against the EU-Caribbean Economic Partnership Agreement in front of White Hall, the prime minister’s office in Trinidad.
’...Agreement harmful to small producers’
Calling for a re-negotiation of a new Economic Partnership Agreement, Federation of Independent Trade Unions and Non Governmental Organisations president David Abdulah says aspects of the agreement could prove to be harmful to the people of Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean.
Ocean transport an emerging barrier to trade
The unprecedented impact of rising energy prices on the cost of ocean transport means that moving goods from one nation to another has become a bigger barrier to global trade than tariffs.
Government procurement provisions in the CARIFORUM EPA and lessons for other ACP states
This paper on government procurement and EPAs written by Stephen Woolcock from LSE recommends that ACP countries first open their procurement markets on a regional basis, before making commitments to the EU.
The EPA conundrum
There are strident calls for the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), due to be signed by Cariforum in July, to be amended, varied or simply not signed. Any possible renegotiation of the treaty, it is acknowledged, might come at a potentially intolerable cost.
Investment provisions in Economic Partnership Agreements
This paper examines the investment provisions of the CARIFORUM Economic Partnership Agreement and their implications for development. The paper also clarifies the link between investment provisions in an EPA and existing bilateral investment treaties. It concludes with recommendations for both review of the investment provisions in the CARIFORUM EPA, and for other ACP states that decide to embark on negotiations on investment with the EU.
Laing: Telecom, real estate excluded from EPA negotiations
Telecommunications and real estate in The Bahamas are two sectors that are, for now, off limits for negotiations under the proposed Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Community and CARIFORUM, State Minister for Finance Zhivargo Laing reported yesterday.
Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) to be signed in July
The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Commission and the Caribbean states will be signed in July. The decision was made at the 26th Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development which ended in Antigua and Barbuda on Saturday.
Marshall: Limit EPA to trading of goods
For the moment, Caribbean countries should limit signing of the full Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Europe in the trade of goods section.
EPA - could have dire consequences
Anyone could be forgiven for wanting to fall asleep whenever the new Economic Partnership Agreement between Europe and the Caribbean comes into the conversation. The language is so complex and dry that only professional diplomats can understand it. (And even some of them are pretending). But the Caribbean needs to pay attention, because the economic consequences of this new agreement are heading towards it like an express train with potentially catastrophic consequences.
’We will all live to regret it’
Professor Girvan warns that the EU-Caribbean EPA could widen inequalities among Caricom states
Understanding the EPA - Most Favoured Nation concession a danger for the Caribbean
So concerned is Brazil about the Caribbean EPA that it sent, on February 5, a communication to the World Trade Organisation requesting a debate. Its concern is that the arrangement agreed with the European Commission may cause nations like India, China and others to cease to negotiate with nations like the Caribbean.
Caribbean: Fissures appear over EU trade deal
Just a few weeks before the signing, some key governments appear uncomfortable with the final agreement
EU-Caribbean FTA (2007)
As initialled on 16 Dec 2007 and signed on 15 Oct 2008