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Trades Union Congress threatens court
action over Economic Partnership Agreement
Accra, Nov. 23, Ghanadot/GNA - The Ghana Trades Union
Congress (GTUC) on Friday served notice to government that
it would avail itself of all legal instruments to stop the
signing and/or implementation of either the full Economic
Partnership Agreement or the EPA-light.
"We are fully convinced that either of the two as currently
structured and conceived, constitute a direct threat to
government revenue, decent work, sustainable development,
poverty reduction and sub-regional integration," a statement
signed by Mr Kwasi Adu-Amankwah, Secretary-General of the
GTUC said.
The GTUC, therefore, called on government to formally table
a request to the European Union Council of Ministers for
Ghana to be admitted to the GSP+ regime when the current
Cotonou Agreement expired on December 31 this year.
It said the seeming lack of action on the part of government
had created anxiety among exporters and had led to some of
them supporting the dangerous proposals of the European
Commission.
The GSP+ also known as the Special Incentive Arrangement for
Sustainable Development and Good Governance is currently
available to a number of countries in Latin America.
The GTUC said contrary to the European Commission's claims,
over 97 per cent of all Ghana's current exports would
continue to enter the EU market duty-free and quota-free
under the GSP+ regime.
It said Ghana had satisfied all the criteria required for
the GSP+. For instance, it meets the definition of a
vulnerable economy since about 70 per cent of exports to the
EU were based on primary commodities and she had also
ratified all the relevant international conventions.
"Thus Ghana can begin to enjoy the facility as early as
January 2008," the statement said, adding that the EC could
be in breach of World Trade Organisation (WTO). rules in not
immediately extending the GSP+ to Ghana.
The GTUC said it had learnt with dismay from various sources
that the government was seriously considering the European
Commission Proposal for interim agreement or the so called,
'EPA Light.'
This proposal will commit government to eliminate all
tariffs on up to 80 per cent of European imports into Ghana
and the West Africa region into the future for 10 to 12
years.
The statement reiterated the need for government to thread
cautiously in the negotiations for the Economic Partnership
Agreement, saying a rush to sign the EPA could inflict
serious damage on Ghanaian industry, especially those who
produce for the domestic and regional markets and harm
employment of millions of workers.
It said the GTUC, "have on several occasions expressed
concern over certain aspects of the proposed EPA, which is
essentially a free trade agreement between the single most
important trading bloc in the world - and one of the least
significant in world commerce - West Africa."
The statement said it shared the view "that Ghana needs to
trade more with the rest of the world, we are guided by the
fact that no country has been able to build a competitive
industrial base by throwing open its borders through a
rushed free trade agreement."
GNA
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