BERNAL

Dr. Richard Bernal, head of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery, says regional heads will not sacrifice securing a good Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) for the region in order to meet the December 31 deadline when the current Cotonou Agreement expires.

His statement comes as a technical group of Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) meets in Kingston to try to conclude negotiations on the EPAs. The EPAs are the successor pacts to the non-reciprocal preferential trade regimes of the Cotonou Agreement and its predecessor, the Lomé Convention, which have governed European Union (EU)/African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) trade for more than three decades.

But due to pressure from the World Trade Organisation, the agreement is being phased out and is to be replaced by the EPAs.

Dr. Bernal told The Gleaner on Monday, as the three-day meeting got underway at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston, that the region is willing to carry on the negotiations as long as necessary.

Best possible agreement

"The team of negotiators, which I lead on behalf of the CARIFORUM countries, is fully committed to getting the best possible agreement and under no circumstances would we sacrifice the quality of the agreement to meet any given schedule," he said.

The meeting is expected to address market access for goods and agricultural products where the negotiators would have to decide which areas would be liberalised.