HL Deb 10 May 2001 vol 625 cc224-5WA
Baroness Gouldie

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What analysis the Government have undertaken of the impact of the Everything but Arms initiative on the Caribbean. [HL2143]

Baroness Amos

We have carefully considered the impact of the Everything but Arms initiative on all stakeholders. This includes Caribbean countries that are concerned about the possible impact that it might have on their preferential access to EU markets, particularly for sugar, rice and bananas. A summary of our analysis will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses. The analysis shows that none of the Caribbean's sugar industries is expected to suffer a significant deterioration in its financial performance due to EBA. For bananas the impact will be negligible, and for rice the transition arrangements under EBA will mean that changes in market forces will be phased in gradually and the overall impact will not be very great.