Guyana signed the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) in Brussels yesterday, five days after 13 other Cariforum countries and the European Union inked the new trade deal.

Guyana’s ambassador to Brussels Dr Patrick Gomes signed the pact and in a statement the EU Trade Commission welcomed the decision, which it said would allow the signatories to begin implementing the EPA by the end of the month.

Guyana agreed to sign the EPA after other Cariforum member states and the European Union accepted a declaration which President Bharrat Jagdeo had recommended as a pre-condition to signing. He asked that the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas takes precedence over the EPA in any matters of conflict in implementation and in matters of regional integration, and he also sought for the EPA to be reviewed every five years.

Cariforum, which includes Caricom countries and the Dominican Republic, agreed to a mandatory periodic review of the EPA to assess its socio-economic impact on Cariforum states, but Jagdeo said they had “watered down” the first pre-condition “to say that in the implementation of the agreement, they will take account of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas”. This, he said, was slightly different from a commitment to the supremacy of the treaty. Nevertheless, he was satisfied with the mandatory review. He also said that enforced threats to Guyana’s exports caused Guyana to sign the agreement.

Jagdeo was the only head of state in the region to object to signing the agreement before the declaration was accepted, saying its provision would hinder the region’s economic development rather than assist in its integration into the world economy.