The European Union (EU) yesterday proposed the removal of all remaining quota and tariff limitations on access to its market for all African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, which includes Jamaica, as part of the Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations.

The proposal covers all products, including agricultural goods such as beef, dairy, cereals, and all fruits and vegetables, except for sugar and rice, which will be gradually phased into the new agreement. It will apply immediately following the signing of an agreement.

The proposal, however, has not been extended to South Africa, where a number of globally competitive products will continue to pay import duties.

A major victory

The latest proposal by the EU signals a major victory for the group's banana producers who have been under pressure from low-cost Latin American banana growers for preferential tariffs to be removed. The Latin Americans have been lobbying the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to force the EU to remove all preferential agreements with the ACP group, claiming it was unfair. So far, they have been successful in reducing the preferential tariff on bananas from 230 euros to 175 euros.

However, the ACP group is still guaranteed zero duty on banana imports into the EU market up to 750,000 metric tonnes, with anything over that amount attracting the 175-Euro tariff.

The new offer also presents increased marketing opportunities for Jamaica's beef and dairy sub-sectors, which have been declining rapidly in recent years, as well as for fruits and vegetables.

The removal of all tariffs and quota barriers would mean that all "ACP countries would have the same market access conditions, encouraging ACP neighbours to collaborate and helping to build regional markets and supply chains - responding to the concerns of agricultural exporters in countries like Kenya or Ghana," a media release out of Brussels said yesterday.