16-Sep-2008
Barnacle Grenada
Thirteen of the 15 Member States indicated their readiness to sign the Agreement at the Third Meeting of the Heads of State and Government of CARIFORUM held at the Sherbourne Centre, Barbados on Wednesday. Haiti indicated that there were reservations which had to be cleared at the Presidential level before signature of the document, while Guyana stated that it was not in a position to sign the EPA.
13-Sep-2008
Caribbean Net News
While it has been asserted that failure to conclude the agreement within the timeframe dictated by the E.C. would threaten Caribbean exports to Europe, we feel that our leaders should not be constrained to pursue a course of action which could prove to be adverse to our people in the long run.
11-Sep-2008
Starbroek News
To the man in the street, it seems that the EPA, and the debate on it, have split Caricom governments, and that the prospects for their arriving at some harmonious agreement at this week’s Caricom meeting are not good.
8-Sep-2008
Jamaica Gleaner
The Cariforum Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) was initialled last December under extreme pressure of time and the threat of imposition of punitive tariffs on Caribbean exports in European Union (EU) markets. In the past nine months this 1,000 plus- page agreement has been examined closely, and found wanting in several respects. Every effort needs to be made to fix the problematic features before the agreement is legally cast in stone.
7-Sep-2008
Jamaica Gleaner
As matters stand, Trinidad, Jamaica, Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Belize, The Bahamas and St Vincent have said that they want to sign; St Lucia says it will not; Guyana is holding a public consultation; Grenada wants more time; and there is silence from almost all other Cariforum states. Meanwhile, some opposition parties have publicly disassociated themselves, most notably, in Jamaica and Antigua.
29-Aug-2008
Jamaica Gleaner
A senior European Union diplomat in Kingston warned Wednesday that Caribbean countries that fail to sign a trade pact the region negotiated with EU by the October 31 deadline will lose preferential access for their product into the European market.
25-Aug-2008
Jamaica Observer
A day after Caricom chairman Baldwin Spencer proposed September 8 for the signing of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU) the Observer has learnt that the pact is now unlikely to be signed before either September 12 or September 19.
17-Aug-2008
Huntington News
On Sept. 2, 2008, some Caribbean countries will be signing an Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union which is not fair and which, over time, may well return Caribbean countries to a state of “plantation economies” where the commanding heights are owned by foreign companies run by expatriate managers, and Caribbean people are merely workers.
30-Jul-2008
Jamaica Observer
There are new uncertainties surrounding the proposed signing of the full Economic Partnership Agreement on September 2 between the European Union and CARIFORUM - the Caribbean Community member states and the Dominican Republic.
20-Jul-2008
Jamaica Gleaner
In the light of the ongoing debate on the economic partnership agreement (EPA), the Jamaican Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade has released a chronology of the CARIFORUM EC/EPA negotiations