The Catholic Bishops’ Conference has added its voice to calls by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and other organizations and individuals urging government to exercise restraint as it considers signing the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU).
According to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, government must ensure there are more advantages for Ghana.
The EPA allows countries to export goods to the EU without tariffs or maximum quotas, under World Trade Organization rules.
This also means that once signed the agreement is signed, it will warrant that within two decades, about 80% of that country’s market should open to European goods and services tariff-free.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) last month postponed the signing of the EPA two more months.
According to ECOWAS, even though they are satisfied with the agreement, they still want to iron out some issues before finally appending their signatures.
There have since been heated debates on the benefits and repercussions of the agreement on local industries if the agreement is signed.
The Trades Ministry in collaboration with the Foreign Affairs Ministry subsequently organized a forum to listen to the worries of industry players and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) on the issue and also to state government’s stance.
Although government promised to look out for the best interest of Ghanaians, some CSOs are still adamant to relax their stance and have articulated their dissatisfaction with government’s willingness and seeming haste to sign the agreement.
Some CSOs like the Private Enterprise Federation (PEF) have maintained the EPA will cause local industries to suffer and have since urged local industries to brace themselves for tougher times ahead.
Speaking to Citi News, the Director of Communications for the Conference, Dan Dzide said the issues surrounding the agreement should be addressed dispassionately.
This, he said would allow Ghanaians “to get the right answers to the right questions. We can’t live in isolation…we cannot produce everything in Ghana and that is why a good balance is needed.”
He counseled that discussions “should be devoid of rancor and political mischief and let’s find the right way forward…we need to keep our eyes wide open and see the benefits first.”
By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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