GUYANA has put in place the necessary steps to fulfill its obligations under the European Union/Cariforum Economic Partnership
Agreement, said Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh during his budget presentation on Monday last. “[On Friday January 14], I signed and caused to be published in the Official Gazette Order No. 1 of 2011 which amends the Customs Act
to include the EPA Schedule of Tariff Rates. By taking this step, Guyana is the first among the Member States of CARICOM to implement
the agreed EPA tariffs and fulfill the requisite obligations,” he said.

“Mr. Speaker, as is well known, CARIFORUM countries concluded negotiation of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the
European Union (EU) in December 2007. That agreement, however, was not formally signed by the participating States until October
2008,” he said.

“Guyana’s reservations regarding the EPA are well known, as a result of which our government had insisted that the agreement must
provide for a review by the parties. This was agreed to in advance of the October 2008 signature by CARIFORUM,” he noted.

CARIFORUM countries are scheduled to commence their liberalisation of tariffs from January 2011, following a three-year grace period
or moratorium from 2008 to 2010.

Dr. Singh said that in this regard, Guyana’s tariff treatment of goods originating in the European Union under the EPA will be as
follows:

1. Products excluded from liberalisation – 17 percent of imports (or tariff lines) from the EU are excluded from liberalisation;
2. Products that will be fully liberalised immediately – 60 percent of all imports or tariff lines will be liberalised immediately
from 2011;
3. Products that will be fully liberalised during a phased out period over 5-25 years – the remaining 23 percent of imports will have
their duties phased out over 5 to 25 years.

According to the EU, the EPA includes a package of measures to stimulate trade, investment and innovation, and to promote sustainable
development, build a regional market among Caribbean countries and help eliminate poverty.

Giving a background to the agreement, the EU in a briefing paper said for more than thirty years trade between Europe and the
Caribbean has been based largely on ‘preferences’ – special tariff rates for selected goods.

“Unfortunately, these arrangements have not helped Caribbean economies diversify or strengthen their industries – the Caribbean
exports less now than it did twenty years ago, and receives lower prices for those exports. Dependence on preferences is not a
sustainable long term strategy for the region,” the EU brief said.

It said also that because the EU extended them unilaterally to the Caribbean in a way that discriminates between Caribbean developing
countries and developing countries elsewhere in the world, the arrangements that the EPA replaces were not in conformity with World
Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.

In 2001, the WTO members gave EU and the Caribbean seven years to negotiate a new agreement that met WTO rules and that agreement is
the Economic Partnership Agreement. With the agreement in place, trade relations are now safe against legal challenge at the WTO by
other developing countries.