PRESS RELEASE FROM Caribbean Farmers Network (CaFAN) CASTRIES, ST.LUCIA “Caribbean Governments need to proceed cautiously before signing any Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU)”. This was a call from participants at a regional workshop on the “New Trading Environment in the Caribbean : A Farmers Perspective”, organized by the Caribbean Farmers Network (CaFAN), and sponsored by the Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Co-operation (CTA). The EPA is being negotiated between the EU and CARIFORUM states and a deadline of December 31, 2007 has been set for signing. However the workshop participants, drawn from 11 Caribbean countries and meeting in St. Lucia last week, have insisted that unless fundamental Caribbean interests are secured in the negotiations, then it would be reckless to sign a “bad deal” just to meet a deadline date. They point to difficulties in agreeing on the scale and pace of tariff liberalization, the need for clear developmental provisions especially in relation to agriculture and the rural sector and the importance of placing emphasis on Food Security and Rural Development. Unless issues like the development agenda are articulated, protection of sensitive products guaranteed, and clear mechanisms developed to further regional integration, not undermine it, it would be harmful to sign up to the EPA. The workshop also lamented the lack of information being provided on the EPA negotiations and called on Caribbean Governments to make public the draft text on the EPA. According to Mr. Jethro Greene, Chief Coordinator for CaFAN, particular concern was raised over the treatment of major exports to the EU from the Caribbean – sugar, rice, and bananas. In the cause of the latter, the workshop strongly recommended that the proposal for a quota free market access for bananas be rejected and that Caribbean should do all in their power to secure the continuation of a managed market. The banana industry is still of fundamental importance to the economies of the banana-exporting countries since it has a multi-functional purpose(economic, social, health and nutrition, food security as well as a vital shipping link with the EU). In spite of difficulties faced, the experience of Fairtrade has demonstrated that there is a new paradigm and dimension emerging in the farming community focusing on good business practices, efficient management, increasing sustainability and willingness to develop linkages with other sectors. The workshop also called for greater attention to be paid to increasing access for both the domestic and regional markets and for the fostering of linkages between agriculture and tourism in the framework of a clear regional policy. Participants also called on regional governments to develop a strong and integrated response mechanism to the threats form pests, diseases and natural disasters at both the national and regional levels. Mr. Greene went on to state that the workshop looked intensively at the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), and saw great opportunities for Caribbean Farmers, once our Regional Governments are able to create the right policy framework that will lead to a common set of regional objectives that will guide agriculture production, marketing and ago-processing linkages to tourism and health within the Caribbean. The workshop was held at the Bay Gardens Inn, St. Lucia, May 21-24, 2007. It was coordinated by the Eastern Caribbean Trading Agriculture and Development Organisation (ECTAD), which housed CaFAN Secretariat, and was supported by participation from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Caribbean Agriculture Research and Development Institute (CARDI), British High Commissions – St. Lucia, Oxfam Great Britain and the Caribbean, Windward Islands Banana Producing Organizations, Windward Island Farmers Association (WINFA), Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Secretariat, Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM), the Ministry of Agriculture – St. Lucia, Ministry of Trade – St. Lucia, among other Farmers Organizations throughout the Caribbean.