Research conducted by the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery revealed that tourism and travel-related services accounted for more than 60 percent of total CARIFORUM services exports to the original 15 European member states over 1997-2003. In light of the importance of tourism in the bilateral relationship it was critical for the Caribbean that there are specific provisions for this sector in the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between CARIFORUM and the European Community and its Member States (EC).
The Cotonou Agreement (Article 24) which governs the relationship between ACP states and the EC, provided for cooperation strategies on tourism. The EPA goes further and establishes rules governing trade in tourism services, expands market access between the two regions, and strengthens the cooperation elements. Through its development support provisions it should improve the capacity of CARIFORUM operators to increase tourism exports. The provisions in the EPA reflect the outcome of consultations with stakeholders such as the Caribbean Hotel Association, the Caribbean Tourism Organization, national hotel associations and investment promotion agencies.
Rules on Tourism in the EPA
Tourism services are dealt with in Section 7 of the Title on Investment, Trade in Services and ECommerce (Articles 110-118) of the EPA. This section addresses various issues important to the tourism sector in the Caribbean and provides for development cooperation and technical assistance. The most significant and innovative element is the legal obligation by both European and Caribbean governments to take measures to prevent anti-competitive practices by large tourism operators. The global tourism industry is characterised by a vertically integrated market and consolidated distribution channels controlled by a limited number of large international players.
The EPA therefore safeguards the interests of the mainly small firms in the Caribbean who are vulnerable to the market power exerted by European firms who control the tourism distribution networks. These are defined as tour operators and other tourism wholesalers (both out-bound and in-bound), computer reservation systems and global distribution systems (whether or not connected to airlines or provided through the Internet), travel agencies and other distributors of tourism services.
Source: Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery
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By: Diana Thorburn, John Rapley, Damien King and Colletttte Campbell
6 September 2010
The EPA’s critics maintained that the accord would damage the region’s ACP relations and, possibly, its future trade negotiating strategy. As the accord is now law, however, it is imperative to ready the region for the challenges and opportunities it presents.
Implementation can be understood in two dimensions: the legal and the actual. Making the necessary changes to extant legislation will be a huge task for Caribbean countries already short on the legal drafting expertise necessary to comply fully with the EPA. While difficult, this aspect of implementation is, with some exceptions, a logistical exercise and challenge. The other aspect of implementation — translating the agreement into feasible opportunities for Caribbean producers to access the European market and to realize the producer and consumer effects that the agreement should usher in — could prove a more formidable task.
Implementing the EPA entails a great deal more than legislative or policy changes. Supply-side constraints deeply embedded in the economic, social, institutional and political fabric of English-speaking Caribbean countries must be considered if implementation is to create new trading relationships, production and increased economic activity. Yet, on January 1, 2009, the date the EPA came into effect, several Caribbean governments and the CARICOM Secretariat had yet to set up implementation mechanisms.
Source:Caribbean Policy Research Institute
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Getting to Know the EPA is one of a series of guides produced by the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM) on the subject of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)
between African, Caribbean and Pacific States and Europe. This Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) guide is designed to clarify basic facts about the EPA.
Getting to Know the EPA : Provisions on Services and Investment