Ms Mary Barrett:

The Minister of State addressed Deputy McLoughlin's question on CONCORD in general and the better trade regionally. I heard Deputy McLoughlin's concern on going further than the WTO. The Caribbean EPA does go further than the WTO because it has extensive sections on services but that is because Caribbean countries wanted those provisions. They are interested in services such as tourism services. They are the lifeblood of their countries. They were, therefore, very keen to move forward on services. In respect of the west Africa agreement, those countries want more time to go into the area of services, competition and those other elements.

The west Africa agreement deals only with goods. The other areas will be discussed in due course.

Reference was made to the LDCs being entitled to everything but arms, which is the case. The LDC countries are not obliged to sign up to EPAs but some have opted to do so. Our key partner country, Sierra Leone, and another partner country, Liberia, have signed up to them. We are keen to show our willingness to implement these agreements given those countries have signed up to them. Outside of west Africa, Mozambique wants to move beyond basic trade into the area of services and so it is keen to move forward on those issues. While some countries want to move forward on issues which go beyond the WTO framework, others do not. For this reason, there are a few clauses in the EPAs which allow for the countries that are not keen to get involved to be parked and dealt with later.

Deputy Naughten referred to Senegal. It has signed up to the agreement. Irish Aid is attempting to do its bit in respect of sanitary and phyto-sanitary conditions by way of supporting the standards and trade development facility at the WTO. That facility supports projects in-country. For example, it assisted in the food flight project to help west African countries deal with such problems. The EPAs should further efforts in this regard because they include specific sections on sanitary and phyto-sanitary matters to increase European co-operation with the countries in this regard. Where difficulties are identified in a particular country, the European Union is willing to send veterinary officers to help resolve them. The EU does not want technical issues to stop trade between countries. I hope that answers the Deputy's question.