KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The Jamaica government is expected to sign the Samoa Agreement that will serve as an overarching legal framework for the relations between the European Union and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) for the next 20 years.
“I can’t give you a date. I have a meeting with my PS (permanent secretary)… to set the schedule for the consultations to take place as promised,” Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Kamina Johnson Smith told the Jamaica Observer newspaper.
The agreement was signed last Wednesday in Apai and succeeds the Cotonou Agreement. It covers sustainable development, growth, human rights, peace, and security.
The provisional application of the agreement will start on 1 January 2024. It will enter into force upon consent by the European Parliament and ratification by all EU member states and at least two-thirds of the 79 OACPS members.
Media reports said that Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica, as well as Namibia, are OACPS countries that have not yet signed the agreement that the European Commissioner for International Partnership, Jutta Urpilainen, said provides “a modernized framework to revitalize our relations with the largest grouping of partner countries to provide a platform for dialogue and coordination to face the challenges of our times together.”
In criticizing the new accord, Trinidad and Tobago Roman Catholic Archbishop Jason Gordon supported the position by Jamaica saying Kingston “came out clearly and said we are not for sale.
“They came out up front, publicly, and said we are not for sale. It is the rest of the small islands of the Caribbean that I worry about today because whoever signs that document will then have to impose laws on their people that are not in keeping with the culture and values of us Caribbean people. It will be a colonial imposition one more time on small, fragile states, on Africa, the Pacific, and us here in the Caribbean,” Archbishop Gordon said.
Gordon said that while the agreement is “written as a trade agreement and an agreement of support, financially, etc. for the African Caribbean and Pacific nations, embedded in that agreement and when it is signed it is for 20 years and cannot be revoked …is anyone who signs that agreement will have abortion legislation in their countries.
“They will have to impose abortion legislation, transgender, LBGTQ, comprehensive sex education, a whole range of values will be imposed because of the signing of that document,” he added.
But Johnson Smith told the Jamaica Observer that the new agreement will not impose any requirements on Jamaica to introduce measures foreign to the island’s culture.
“There is no need to fear. The Jamaica Labour Party government is a government that can be trusted to ensure that any agreement that we enter into with a third-party state or third-party organization will never infringe upon our laws,” Johnson Smith told the newspaper.
“We are a listening government, we are a caring government, and we ensure that this important developmental agreement is undertaken within a spirit of understanding,” she added.
Johnson Smith said that at the point of signing, Jamaica would also ink an “Interpretative Declaration” to ensure “that the interpretation that we expect is crystal-clear.”
In a statement last week, Johnson Smith said as a founding member of the OACPS, Jamaica was an active participant in the negotiations on the Samoa Agreement, adding that “over the negotiating period of 2017-2020, the Government of Jamaica had incorporated feedback from a diverse range of stakeholders, including members of civil society”.
She also said that member states had worked across the OACPS regions to address “similar issues and concerns.
“Throughout the negotiations, which concluded in 2021, the Government had taken on board the views of the various stakeholders, including members of civil society. After what was, in fact, three years of challenging negotiations, the Government was satisfied that the language of the text in the final Agreement would not supersede Jamaica’s domestic legislation.
“Notwithstanding, the Government has taken note of concerns which continue to be raised by stakeholders in the domestic space, so we will continue consultations to provide assurances regarding the Government’s unfailing intent to always protect the interest of Jamaica and Jamaicans with the laws of Jamaica as our guide.”
The new Samoa Agreement outlines common principles and covers human rights, democracy and governance, peace and security, and human and social development.
inclusive, sustainable economic growth and development, environmental sustainability, and climate change migration and mobility
The agreement includes a standard foundation, which applies to all parties, combined with three regional protocols for Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific, with a focus on the specific needs of each region.
The 27 EU member states and the 79 African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries represent around two billion people and more than half of the seats at the United Nations.
The EU said that with this new agreement, the parties will be better equipped to address emerging needs and global challenges, such as climate change, ocean governance, migration, health, peace, and security.
and then 