Home  Regional News Bo Hjalmefjord WIRSPA's True Rum marquee and marketing campaign speech
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Bo Hjalmefjord WIRSPA's True Rum marquee and marketing campaign speech |
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Friday, 29 May 2009 |
Brief remarks delivered by Bo Hjalmefjord, Private Sector Project Officer of the Delegation of the European Commission to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, at the launch of WIRSPA's True Rum marquee and marketing campaign on 27 May 2007.
Let me thank the West Indies Rum and Spirits Producers Association for inviting the Delegation to say a few words at this marquee and marketing campaign launch.
This history of rum in the Caribbean needs no recapping since it is one that has been told many times over. One only has to travel through the countries of the region to understand the important role rum, as a commodity, plays in the economies of those countries that are large producers. Some might anecdotally also mention other important, non-financial roles played by this beverage, but that is for another speech.
The True Rum initiative would not have been possible without the support provided by the European Community: 70 million euros were granted to the Integrated Development Programme for the Caribbean Rum Sector, under the 8th European Development Fund. Implementation of this rum programme began in August 2002 and was scheduled to run until 2007, now extended until 30 June 2010.
This extension gave producers more time in which to implement substantial projects of the Integrated Programme to upgrade their facilities for rum distillation; ageing; blending and bottling; to improve and build waste treatment facilities and environmental management systems; for training and upgrading of skills; and to market their products in the European market. Today's launch is part of that effort.
The background to this project relates to the end of the rum protocol with the European Union.
Many of you will recall that under the Rum Protocol contained in all Lome' agreements between 1975 and early 1996, when the EU finally removed quotas on ACP rum, Caribbean ACP rum exporters received duty free access under quota to the European market. What this means is that Caribbean rum producers exported low-value bulk rum to the European Market which in turn was then branded, bottled and distributed by major European drinks companies, who captured the value added. On 1st January 1996, imports of ACP light rum were fully liberalised. However, by late 1996 this action was superseded by an agreement between the EU and the US to liberalise their trade in all white spirits including rum, the so-called Zero for Zero agreement. As a result of Zero for Zero, rum became one of the first ACP industries to embark on the transition out of preferences. The matter was subsequently addressed in post Lome trade co-operation discussions between the EU and the ACP Caribbean rum industry, resulting in a Joint Declaration on Rum, part of the ACP-EU Cotonou Partnership Agreement signed in 2000. In this declaration, the EU confirmed its readiness to support the ACP rum sector in enhancing its competitiveness.
The integrated rum programme is the European Community’s second largest ACP private sector programme. It is also unique in the way it is managed. Indeed, one of the ground-breaking features of the Integrated Rum Programme is that an ACP private sector association – the West Indies Rum and Spirits Producers' Association – is responsible for managing the programme on behalf of the Caribbean Forum of ACP States. Such a decision should be seen as a commitment to making non-governmental actors and private sector representatives full partners in the delivery of development assistance.
The Integrated Development Programme for the ACP Caribbean Rum Sector should be seen in the wider context of EC support to the region, as the industry strives to adapt to a more competitive global environment. In addition to the support provided to each and every individual country under the various EC financial instruments, one should recall here the new trade relations between Europe and the region since the signing of the Economic Partnership Agreement in 2008. Supporting the Caribbean's efforts towards regional integration, enhanced competitiveness and EPA implementation are the main objectives of our regional programmes (with 40 and 165 million euros under the 9th and 10th EDF respectively). The Integrated Rum Programme is fully coherent with these ambitious objectives. Therefore the launch of this 10 million euro True Rum marquee and marketing campaign is part of our wider thrust to empower Caribbean producers by providing them with their own tools, as they reach out to world markets, particularly in these difficult economic times.
I hope that at the end of the evening we all would have toasted to a prosperous future for the Caribbean rum production and marketing as we seek the success of this important industry and product.
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