CARIFORUM and UK EPA Study

This study has found that these are key factors to enable CARIFORUM exporters to be able to take advantage of the market access opportunities provided under the Agreement. This, as shown elsewhere in this study, speaks to a need to prioritise investments in improving the capacity of CARIFORUM exporters whose exports are largely concentrated in Agro-foods. Specifically, capacity building should be directed towards, the integration into GVCs, the development and expansion of regional value chains, which the CF-UK EPA as argued is ideally placed to support, given its cumulation provisions. Additionally, priority should be placed on the increased “servicification” of goods trade 68 , as well as strengthening the capacity to meet UK and Global Standards. This will therefore contribute towards overcoming the high degree of concentration in a few export sectors, thus boosting overall regional exports, and achieving sustainable outcomes for all the CF partners. In respect of services trade, technology as well as global conditions have clearly caused a shift away from Mode 4 - thought a priority at the time of the CF-EU EPA negotiations, towards Modes 1 and 3, save for those sectors that, by virtue of their characteristics, are not substitutable between modes of supply. Additionally, the services component of goods trade, that is, the so-called mode 5, also has to be considered. The “servicification” of manufacturing, as the data shows, is also apparent from the UK trade in manufactures. Furthermore, even in respect of Agriculture, economies whose exports are highly concentrated in a few commodities have been finding ways of using technology to boost exports, without necessarily diversifying into different product lines. In one sense, promoting Mode 5 trade would help to advance both the trade in goods and the trade in services. This presents an opportunity for CF exporters, the foundation of which may be found in the CF-UK EPA, and should be explored in the context of the relevant treaty bodies as to how this can be supported. 11.2 Trade In Services

68 Often referred to as “mode 5” supply of services.

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