As of Saturday, July 7, 2018, will end the derogation granted to Haiti, pending the ratification of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) - European Union - Cariforum. Recall that the countries of the region that signed this agreement, did it to attract foreign investment in their country and to have better access to the EU market.

Haiti, which is the only Cariforum country that has not yet ratified the EPA, will have to assume the consequences of this non-ratification, says Chenet St-vil, the Coordinator of the Coordination and Monitoring Office of the Agreement of the CARICOM, the WTO and the FTAA (BACOZ)

He cites as an example Group M, which operates at the Parc de la Compagnie de Développement Industriel (CODEVI) in Ounaminthe, which exports part of its production to Europe within the framework of the European rules of origin of the EPA "The agreement allows the Dominican Republic to achieve part of the production in Haiti that has not yet implemented the EPA, thanks to the derogation granted to Haiti. Explaining that the consequences of the non-ratification of the EPA by Haiti, will jeopardize nearly 10,000 Haitian jobs at CODEVI. Group M, which makes part of its production in Haiti on the basis of this derogation, could be forced to produce in the Dominican Republic (signatory of the EPA since 2008), except change or new derogation.

As the Haitian law does not allow to implement an agreement on a provisional basis, the Parliament must obligatorily decide on the EPA. In November 2017, the Haitian private sector voted for the ratification of the EPA.

Chenet St-Vil recalls that other steps are also urgently needed so that Group M can continue to operate in Haiti, pending ratification by Parliament, the parties must grant a new derogation , which is not automatic and can not be repeated indefinitely.

TB/ HaitiLibre