Richard Bernal, director general of the Regional Negotiating Machinery, did so at a summit that Caribbean Heads of the Government are attending in St. Kitts this week. He renewed the issue that has been looming ever since the Free Trade Area of the Americas [FTAA] negotiations hit a snag.
Mr. Bernal was quoted as saying that a committee recommended all member states “move as quickly as possible … so that the region can take a decision on whether to approach the United States or not for a free trade agreement.”
Central American countries and the Dominican Republic have already signed such a pact with the U.S.
A similar free trade arrangement with the U.S. is inevitable for CARICOM, according to the Bahamas High Commissioner to the body A. Leonard Archer who told the Bahama Journal that the matter would not have arisen if the FTAA had materialized as planned.
The rationale is that the Caribbean region would stand to gain a lot because of the volume of trade that it does with its neighbour to the north.
“The U.S. is not the only market, but the most convenient, so if you have a convenient market you donﾒt want to lose it,” said Mr. Archer. “The US, because itﾒs so near, is convenient and the shipping cost would be less than say sending tons of lobster to Europe.”
In 2004, the last year for which official statistics are available, The Bahamas exported some $92 million worth of goods into the U.S. market, most of which was crawfish. Government officials classified that as significant considering that the fishing industry employs approximately 20,000 Bahamians.
The matter was discussed recently at a meeting in the U.S. capital about the Caribbean Basin Initiative and the fate of the Caribbean Basin Recovery Act which provides for duty free access for certain goods coming from the Caribbean region.
“We The Bahamas along with CARICOM will have to negotiate some sort of arrangement with the United States,” he said. “The arrangement, of course, would have to be reciprocal in keeping with the WTO principles.”
“If the [Free Trade Area of the Americas] had kept on course and if there was an agreement for the entire Americans then this question would not have arisen.”
A country must seek special permission from the WTO in order to grant another country trade advantages that are not afforded to others, which is the case under the U.S. Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act.
On another matter of critical importance for The Bahamas, the country has shown no sign of changing its current refusal to endorse the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, the much-touted plan for regional integration.
As six more countries in the Caribbean inked the CSME plan this week , The Bahamas which has a contingent headed by Prime Minister Perry Christie at the CARICOM meeting, continued to stand on the sidelines of those nations that have not yet adopted the CSME stance.
Prime Minister Christie has held true to his vow of additional national consultation before making a final decision and there is no indication whether anything will change, or if so when.
Mr. Archer opined that the matter of CSME will have to be dealt either before the next general election or soon afterwards.
By: Tameka Lundy, The Bahama Journal
