-as PSC estimates millions lost from UK market
The Guyana/European Voluntary Partnership Agreement signed a few months ago is being cited by the government as the gateway to lifting restrictions on the export of timber to the United Kingdom; a ban estimated to have cost millions of dollars.
This was communicated by Foreign Affairs Minister and acting President Carl Greenidge on Monday. At the time, he was delivering his feature remarks at a United Nations Conference on Trade and Development workshop.
Greenidge said that under the terms of this agreement, licensed products will automatically enter the EU market. With Brexit, the UK’s exit from the European Union, scheduled for this month end, it is unclear how this will impact these plans.
Greenidge did acknowledge, however, that a lot more work has to be done. He noted that this is only a step towards removing the restrictions. Meanwhile, Private Sector Commission (PSC) Executive Ramesh Dookhoo estimated that exporters of lumber lost millions of US dollars from the ban.
He noted, however, that such exporters are likely to have taken steps to ramp up exports to other markets to alleviate their losses.
