Let’s undertake comprehensive study on EPA : Participants urge govt
Participants in the second edition of the GRAPHIC BUSINESS –Stanbic Bank Breakfast Meeting in Accra, want the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI) to conduct a comprehensive study into the consequence of Ghana signing the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) on Ghanaian businesses.
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That, they said, would help inform businesses as to whether they should support the signing of the EPA or not, because the implications of the country signing or not signing the EPA were not just on its export fortunes, but also impacted on the business relationship among companies within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the European Union (EU).
The participants took turns to voice their concerns as to whether the country should sign the agreement or not.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Institute of Certified Economists of Ghana (ICEG), Mr Daniel Ameteye Anim, said it was crucial for the government to highlight any possible losses if the EPA was signed.
He said the objective of the ICEG was to ensure that the government created a conducive environment for businesses to thrive, hence the need for the government to highlight the implications of the agreement in order for the country to make an informed decision about the EPA.
A representative from the Pioneer Foods Cannery, Mr Joseph Tindana, called on the government and the private sector to find some common ground before the October 1, 2016 deadline elapses to prevent the country from losing out on investments from the EU market should it fail to sign the EPA.
“It is extremely important for the country to strategise to find a common ground from now to the October 1, 2016 deadline, so that we do not lose the duty-free and quota-free market access to the EU market for Ghanaian businesses,”he said.
Criticisms
The EPA is the framework being proposed by the EU to developing countries such as Ghana to address issues relating to unfair preferential trade agreements. However, far from redressing the challenges, civil society groups have objected to the signing of the agreement, saying that the EPA worsens the plight of countries which sign onto it and extinguishes any control that the country may have over its productive capacity.
Groups such as the Economic Justice Network of Ghana, the Trades Union Congress (TUC), the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce (GNCC), the Christian Council of Ghana, the Catholic Secretariat and the Socialist Forum of Ghana have said the disadvantages of signing onto the partnership far outweigh any benefits.
The Executive Director of the Third World Network, Dr Yao Graham, opined that the country risked losing a total of 40,000 jobs over the next 10 years if the country went ahead to sign the EPA in its current state.
He said the job losses would result from a crumbling of the light industrial sector in the economy, which promises to create more jobs in the very near future.
Dr Graham said estimates made by the Network showed that the country would lose a sizeable amount of its important tariffs as a result of the removal of important duties on selected imports from the EU.
“Those estimates put the figure at US$126 million. Ghana needed to ensure that the agreement is renegotiated to fit into its economic development agenda,” he added.
Response
But the Director of Regional and Bilateral Trade at MoTI, Mr Anthony Nyame-Baafi, defended the country's decision to initial Interim Economic Partnership Agreements (IEPA), explaining that the move saved the country a total of €400 million in export taxes to the European Union.
According to the Director, the amount was taxes and duties that would have been paid on Ghana’s exports to the European Union but was removed following the signing of the IEPA.
“The IEPA, just like the EPA itself, allows Ghana unrestricted and tax-free access to the EU market. In return, selected goods from the union also get access to the Ghanaian economy,” Mr Nyame-Baafi said.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry says the country's desire to double earnings from the non- traditional export (NTE) sector can only be possible if the country signs onto the EPA.
Mr Nyame-Baafi said the country would continue to lobby three of its West African neighbours, Nigeria, Gambia and Mauritania to sign onto the agreement.
The signatures of the three countries are needed to ensure that West Africa speaks with one voice on the EPA.
Currently, 13 countries in West Africa, minus Nigeria, Gambia and Mauritania, have signed onto the agreements, which give 100 per cent access to Ghanaian exports into the 18-member country.
Breakfast meeting
The breakfast meeting, which is an initiative of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) and the bank, is a series of dialogues that feature selected topics and is aimed at influencing government policies in favour of businesses.
It brought together players in the private sector, policy makers and people from the government to deliberate on how to improve business confidence to support local business.
Held on the theme: “The Economic Partnership Agreement and its implications for businesses in Ghana,” it was chaired by Dr Vladimir Antwi Danso, Dean of Academic Affairs, Ghana Armed Forces and Staff College. Other speakers were the Chief Executive Officer of the Private Enterprise Foundation (PEF), Nana Osei Bonsu, and the Managing Director of GCGL, Mr Kenneth Ashigbey.
