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European Communities (Definition of Treaties) (Cariforum Economic Partnership Agreement) Order 2009

The Cariforum EPA will bring together 14—soon, we hope, 15—Caribbean nations with the European Union to promote development-friendly trade. It means that the Caribbean countries will receive duty-free, quota-free access to EU markets. Without it, some countries have faced tariffs on up to 25 per cent of their exports, including on critical industries such as bananas. The EPA allows the Caribbean countries to remove their own tariffs gradually, over 25 years, and contains safeguards so that they can protect infant industries and prevent import surges. It also—at the Caribbean’s request—includes provisions on services. Services are a key opportunity for growth in the Caribbean, particularly in tourism, leisure and the creative industries. No nation can achieve prosperity by closing its borders to trade. In the World Bank’s Global Monitoring Report 2008, it was calculated that removing all trade tariffs can reduce the headcount poverty index by 5 to 6.5 percentage points over a 10-year period. I would like to quote the honourable Bruce Golding, the Prime Minister of Jamaica, who a month ago spoke publicly in support of the EPA. He said that the Caribbean’s hopes for growth are inextricably tied to trade and to its ability to penetrate and maintain markets where the demand is exponentially greater than Caribbean countries will ever be able to create themselves. What he said is equally true of the UK. The benefits from duty-free, quota-free access and from improved rules of origin are where the EPA will most quickly bring benefits. The Dominican Republic is already moving to exploit previously enhanced market access for cocoa, bananas and textiles. However, in the longer term, the biggest benefits will come from the regional integration that will flow from all countries in a region signing. This financial year, the Department for International Development has invested £5 million into a new trust fund known as CARTFUND to increase growth and deepen economic integration. To secure these benefits for the Caribbean we need to ratify the EPA. By agreeing to the order today, the Committee will be allowing us to proceed.