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

We are fairly confident that Haiti will sign, because we believe that it has a vested interest in doing so. The order will come into effect if Haiti does not sign; but if it does not, we would need to amend the order as a result. In relation to an impact assessment, a Caribbean study published this year found that the EPA would boost productivity and cause the economy and standard of living to rise by a few percentage points. It concluded that the ultimate effect on the domestic economy would be tiny and that the loss of tariff revenue would be compensated for by a small increase in indirect taxes. On Christian Aid’s view that there would be negative impact, and with regard to the WTO, we cannot go back to that. The existing agreement was not compatible, whereas this agreement is, and we believe that it is a fair deal. As I said in my opening contribution, it allows the Caribbean countries to remove their own tariffs gradually over 25 years and contains safeguards so that they can protect infant industries, as mentioned by the noble Lord, Lord Dykes, and prevent import surges. Also, at the Caribbean's request, it includes provisions on services. Services are seen as a key opportunity for growth in the Caribbean, particularly in tourism, leisure and the creative industries. The agreement establishes a free-trade area by substantially liberalising all trade. We liberalise 100 per cent and the Caribbean liberalises 80 per cent, so we think that that is a reasonable balance. We funded the Caribbean regional negotiating machinery to help negotiations—the noble Lord, Lord Dykes, or the noble Lord, Lord De Mauley, raised that point. However, we definitely gave assistance to help negotiations. The fact that 14 Caribbean countries signed is an indication of their support for the agreement. Cuba is not involved at all. The EU is also giving more than €150 million in aid to the Caribbean and we will provide something like 15 per cent of that. I do not think that I have covered bilateral agreements and distraction from Doha. The instantaneous answer provided by my team is that we are still committed to Doha. That is just for the interim, so to speak. Motion agreed.