MONTEGO BAY, St James – CARIFORUM heads of government spent the better part of yesterday locked in meetings aimed at finalising the position they plan to take into today’s talks with European Union (EU) commissioners Louis Michel and Peter Mandelson as they negotiate a CARIFORUM/EU Economic Partnership Agreement.

The meetings followed on Wednesday’s opening of a special two-day confab described by Prime Minister Bruce Golding as an occasion to address critical issues in the run-up to the new agreement which will dictate the future of the Caribbean’s trade relationship with Europe.

Yesterday, Golding indicated that this week’s meeting, which the EU hopes will culminate today with a firm deal that will reflect some amount of reciprocity, would have a significant impact on the nation’s sugar and banana industries as well as the national budget.

“As we negotiate for a new arrangement we have to address real problems which will directly impact the lives of every man, woman and child in our respective countries,” said Golding. “These include whether or not to continue raising revenue from import duties and other border taxes. Such revenue, especially for high import dependent countries, continues to contribute to our economies. We will have to consider how this void in national budgets will be filled if we are to move away from this source of funding.”

The Caribbean is currently preparing to say good-bye to the traditional preferential treatment it used to enjoy under arrangements such as the ACP/EU sugar protocol which the EU signalled its intention to end last week.

The denunciation, which Golding yesterday described as “astonishing”, is likely to impact the outcome of this week’s talks.

“…there is the question of whether our sugar and bananas will remain viable or whether those of us who are smaller producers must become casualties of trade liberalisation and a free market which favours the larger and more competitive producers over the smaller ones.,” said Golding. “Our realities demand that flexibilities are built into the EPA to take account of our levels of development.”

Word coming out of Brussels yesterday indicated that the Europeans are hopeful of leaving the island with a deal in hand today.

However, Golding indicated yesterday that while he was aware of the urgency and deadlines to be met in relation to the EPA talks, he wasn’t about to compromise regional and national interests on the altar of expediency.