NewsWhore
06-27-2007, 07:00 PM
Ambassador Federico Cuello Camilo, the DR's representative at the European Union offices in Brussels, is warning that the "potential for failure is real" in the bilateral trade negotiations with the European Union, as reported in the 24 June edition of Hoy newspaper. DR-EU trade preferences expire in January 2008, and exports such as tobacco products (cigars), rum, bananas and sugar will be subject to tariffs when entering Europe from then on, reducing the DR's competitiveness as well as that of the CARICOM countries.
"Certain countries still believe there is time left. But time has run out and if the European Union does not present the World Trade Organization (WTO) with an agreement compatible with its rules, as of December this year, the legal framework supporting our banana, cigar and rum exports will collapse", explains Ambassador Cuello.
Meanwhile, he said that, "certain Caribbean countries (which he refused to name for diplomatic reasons) keep resisting taking on the minimum compromises that are required to evolve from preferences to reciprocal free trade to be agreed upon within the EPA." Ambassador Cuello concludes that to get things moving forward a common liberalization list is required for market access, to which countries have not agreed on, as well as a substantially revised list for liberalization commitments on services and investment."
The Europeans point to the "multilateralism clause" that is included in the draft text of the EPA. This means that under the EPA, ice cream made in the DR and exported to Jamaica will receive the same customs treatment in Kingston as ice cream exported by Holland. Therefore, the main obstacle to finalizing tariff liberalization talks is that some Caricom countries sustain an exaggerated exclusion list.
Ambassador Cuello is pessimistic about what could happen at the end of the negotiating process: "Let's hope that there is no need for another Caribbean crisis on sugar, banana and rum in order to convince the authorities that the time for action has arrived and that there is no more time to keep thinking about it."
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#2)
"Certain countries still believe there is time left. But time has run out and if the European Union does not present the World Trade Organization (WTO) with an agreement compatible with its rules, as of December this year, the legal framework supporting our banana, cigar and rum exports will collapse", explains Ambassador Cuello.
Meanwhile, he said that, "certain Caribbean countries (which he refused to name for diplomatic reasons) keep resisting taking on the minimum compromises that are required to evolve from preferences to reciprocal free trade to be agreed upon within the EPA." Ambassador Cuello concludes that to get things moving forward a common liberalization list is required for market access, to which countries have not agreed on, as well as a substantially revised list for liberalization commitments on services and investment."
The Europeans point to the "multilateralism clause" that is included in the draft text of the EPA. This means that under the EPA, ice cream made in the DR and exported to Jamaica will receive the same customs treatment in Kingston as ice cream exported by Holland. Therefore, the main obstacle to finalizing tariff liberalization talks is that some Caricom countries sustain an exaggerated exclusion list.
Ambassador Cuello is pessimistic about what could happen at the end of the negotiating process: "Let's hope that there is no need for another Caribbean crisis on sugar, banana and rum in order to convince the authorities that the time for action has arrived and that there is no more time to keep thinking about it."
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#2)