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If European and US recovery from the global economic and financial crisis can be described as sluggish, characterised by jobless growth and dependent on stimulus packages, imagine what is the situation in CARIFORUM, particularly in the smaller countries of the OECS.
The Caribbean with its open economies is one of the regions most adversely affected by the crisis. That situation is compounded by the high level of indebtedness of the CARIFORUM Member States, the inadequacy and cost of loans from the International Financial Institutions (IFIs). Adverse changes in international trading relationships, climate change and environmental fragility and the absence of adequate innovative technological capacities further complicate life for the people of the Caribbean. It is against that background that one must appreciate the various regional integration and cooperation initiatives of the CARIFORUM region. At the centre is the move towards the OECS Economic Union. There the agenda is ambitious and requires considerable external support. The CARICOM Single Market and Economy is making strides despite the many challenges it faces, some of which will be familiar to our European colleagues. At the wider CARIFORUM level we continue our efforts at deepening and expanding with the membership of the Dominican Republic in CARICOM under consideration. Of course, our European partners would be aware of strides which we have been making in respect of ALBA and the newly created CALC. All our effort at dealing with the global financial and economic crisis can come to nought if the European Union does not:
Simply put the EU must honour the consultation provisions of the Cotonou and EPA Agreements; ensure that its other bilateral trade agreements are not pursued at the expense of the Caribbean region; ensure the effectiveness of accompanying and support measures intended to provide relief to the Caribbean region and urgently undertake an assessment of the impact of trade liberalisation with Latin America on CARIFORUM countries Colleagues, one area in which the EU could collaborate with CARIFORUM is that of Food Security. Agriculture remains an important contributor to rural development, GDP, employment and export earnings in our region. At the same time, the food import bill in CARICOM is more than US$2 billion annually. The returns to investment in Agriculture in the Region are dwindling at the same time the Region is faced with volatile food and agricultural prices. A CARIFORUM Food Security Programme would benefit from support for a Bio-Security Policy, Agribusiness Development, Agricultural Health and Food Safety laboratories and systems. Innovation systems can also positively contribute to food security in the region. There is significant scope for CARIFORUM-EU collaboration in a system which includes:
All that I have alluded to before requires finding and financing. In that regard, I wish to make special mention of the EU’s Vulnerability FLEX (V-FLEX) Mechanism. Already three CARIFORUM States have had 40 million Euros approved and disbursed under the 2009 allocation. 7 out of the 36 requests for 2010 are from CARIFORUM States which are collectively seeking at least 84 million Euros. But, when added to those of other ACP States, the existing requests exceed the resources available. In addition the two-year duration of the existing mechanism , based on a premise of short term recovery, is inadequate and does not correspond to the time it will take for ACP States to recover from the Financial and Economic Crisis. At the same time, while regional integration and cooperation are touted from the rooftops, as central pillars of ACP/EU and CARIFORUM/EU Cooperation, no provisions are made for access to V-FLEX and other such mechanisms by sub-regions like the OECS which desperately require such support. We congratulate and express our deep appreciation to the EU for the initiative in creating the V-FLEX Mechanism. In doing so it has demonstrated leadership and can further enhance its standing by increasing the resources available to the mechanism, expanding its duration and making provision for sub-regions like the OECS which have already moved to full monetary union. Let there be no doubt that regional integration and cooperation are instruments to achieve the sustainable development of CARIFORUM. Let there be no doubt that the region appreciates the contribution of the EU to its efforts. Let there be no doubt that unless the EU is careful, it can undo the positive contribution by its unilateral actions and bilateral commitments on commodities to those outside of the ACP. Finally, let there be no doubt that EU Financing Mechanisms, like the V-FLEX, can play an even greater role in supporting Caribbean development than it currently does. RUM Despite assurances by the EU that it would seek to ensure that any concessions on rum in trade negotiations with third countries would be made with long liberalisation schedules to ensure that ACP Caribbean producers were not adversely affected, the recent Association Agreements with Peru and Colombia have resulted in the precipitate dismantling of the preferential tariffs applied to non-ACP rums. These negotiations have taken place with little meaningful consultation with CARIFORUM Governments and with no discussion of the impact these changes will have on the rum industries in CARIFORUM countries. It is expected that concessions even more favourable than those extended to Peru and Colombia will be extended to Central America and, in due course, to MERCOSUR as those negotiations move forward. The situation is compounded by the fact that Latin American rum producers are exporting bottled rums which contravene the regulations governing claims of age thereby misleading consumers as to the true age of the rum they purchase. CARIFORUM rum producers correctly apply the EU regulations. CARIFORUM formally requests the EU to urgently conduct an impact assessment of the effects of the accelerated liberalisation of its rum market on the region’s rum industry Support for the Rum Industry in CARIFORUM A most urgent requirement is the need for the EU to immediately allow continued CARIFORUM access to funds to complete the realisation of the objectives of the Integrated Support Programme for Caribbean Rum which the EU has acknowledged is a well managed programme and which has been declared a sterling example of developmental cooperation between CARIFORUM and the EU. We call on the EU to exercise its considerable political will to make available to the rum industry in CARIFORUM resources equivalent to the approximately €10 million remaining in the EDF funded rum support programme which is due to close at the end of June 2010. Taking into account the concessions given under the bilateral agreements with Latin American countries, failure by the European Commission now to properly conclude the development programme for the rum industry would be totally inconsistent with its own policy objectives. |
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