South Centre in Media: Implications of the Economic Partnership Agreement

A reference to the South Centre appears in the Jamaica Gleaner in article "Implications of the Economic Partnership Agreement" appearing on January 25, 2008 authored by Guest Commentator, Professor Norman Girvan.

It quotes:

Development assistance in specified forms, quantities, and time-frames is not included in the EPA. If additional investment and development assistance are not forthcoming, there is no provision within the EPA for the promised beneficiaries to be released from their obligations.
This issue may be illustrated with regard to the EPA chapter on innovation and intellectual property. A comment prepared at my request by a team of experts at the South Centre observes that:
"Chapter 2 of Title IV of the draft EPA text covers issues linked with key aspects of socio-economic development of the Cariforum states. One can easily assess the different levels of engagement of the parties under Section 1 and Section 2. Section 1 largely provides for non-binding commitment, declaratory statements, and matters that will be defined during implementation. Section 2 largely establishes binding TRIPS-plus standards that should be implemented by the parties. If Section 1 is assumed to be of interest for Cariforum, then what they are getting from the EPA will be largely promises that may face the inherent difficulty of determining their scope and the kind of measures that can be considered as adequate implementation of the commitments. The implementation of Section 2 is straightforward, involving the introduction of domestic laws to implement the section that can be easily verified and assessed."

For more information:
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20080125/business/business8.html