Open IEPA for review

THE Secretary-General of the Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC), Mr Kofi Asamoah, has called on the government to open up the Interim Economic Partnership Agreement (IEPA), for review and consultation before it is signed into an international treaty by the end of this year.
This, he explained, is to ensure that the interest and future of the country is not jeopardised by the European Union (EU).
Mr Asamoah said this at the 12th annual TUC and GJA interaction programme at the International Press Centre on Monday.
He said TUC was alarmed by the action of the European Commission to abandon the regional negotiations framework under the auspices of the ECOWAS and were rather embarking on predatory missions on individual countries to get them to initiate a “so called stepping stone Interim EPA”.
He added that the action of the European Commission was a demonstration of bad faith and a stab in the back of the sub regional-intergration which was supposed to be one key objective of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).
Mr Asamoah emphasised that what the IEPA Ghana initialled with the EU was secured in an atmosphere of considerable pressure and intimidation of public officials, some of whom privately resented the decision and content of the IEPA.
He said the initialling of the IEPA was contrary to the decision taken on October 5, 2007 by the ECOWAS Trade Ministers in Cote d’Ivoire at which the Ministers stated that the sub-region was not in the position to sign Interim or Comprehensive EPA and formally requested for the extension of the deadline.
“Ghana TUC deplores in the strongest possible terms, the non-transparent manner in which the IEPA with the EU was concluded” Mr Asamoah added.
He said given the developmental gap between Ghana and the EU, it was illogical and immoral to have a free trade agreement since it was akin to putting a flyweight boxer in the ring with a heavyweight boxer.
He stated that the removal of customs duties on import from the EU was inconsistent with the policy of Ghana to promote the private sector which provided employment for the youth and produced goods for public consumption.
The Secretary-General said any attempt to remove 80 per cent duties on imports from the EU would decimate the already small production base of the country, wipe out employment and livelihood, deny the country the most reliable source of revenue and undermine efforts towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals of the country.
He described the 100 per cent access to the EU market as cosmetic and meaningless to Ghana due to the historical levels of several non-tarrif barriers, complicated rules of origin and supply side constraints facing Ghana.
Mr Asamoah expressed concern about recent developments on the labour scene after an infamous decision of the Accra Fast Track High Court to the effect that employers could terminate the employment of their employees without reasons.
He said this was seriously undermining the compromises and consensus reached during the tripartite consultations which led to the passage of the Labour Act (Act 651, 2003).
He therefore called on the government to ratify the ILO Convention 158 and take a second look at the Labour Act which suffers from a fair degree of ambiguity which could lead to tension.
Mr Asamoah commended Ghanaians for the maturity showed in ensuring peaceful elections on December 7, and urged them to do better during the run-off for the Presidential election on Sunday.