Hylton MONTREAL (CANA):
JAMAICA'S MINISTER of Foreign Trade, Anthony Hylton, on Wednesday made a strong case to have special provisions for Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) member states' participation in the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) process.
Hylton also complained that CARICOM "has been extremely disappointed with the seeming absence of a real commitment to the stated goal of ensuring the integration of the smaller economies in the FTAA."
"Disparities exist in terms of size, income levels, development and basic infrastructural and human resource capabilities (among the countries participating in the FTAA process)," Hylton told delegates to a major conference in Montreal.
He was addressing a gathering of mainly business people from the hemisphere who are discussing free trade and development issues in a three day conference which ends on Friday, the same day the Summit of the Americas opens in Quebec City.
Hylton spoke on the topic "Free Trade in the Americas: Is it Realistic?" on the opening afternoon of the Conference of Montreal. He pointed to the disparities in the population and Gross Domestic Product of the United States compared to the smaller Caribbean countries.
"It is recognising these obvious disparities and their implications for the successful conclusion of the Free Trade Area of the Americas that CARICOM has sought to ensure that the negotiations are conducted on a level playing field," he told delegates.
Hylton made reference to the CARICOM Single Market and Economy and the provisions to assist "disadvantaged countries, regions and sectors" within the Community.
"If small regional groupings such as CARICOM and the Andean Group and even larger economic integration movements such as the EU (European Union) have seen the necessity to include special provisions for the less advantaged countries participating in the process, why can't the countries in the FTAA?" the minister asked.
"If the stated goals of the Summit (of the Americas) are to be achieved, among which is enhancing the prosperity of all nations through economic integration, this issue must be directly addressed," he said.
Caribbean leaders and trade officials have repeatedly called for special provisions to help smaller economies cope with free trade. Without stating actual costs, they say it will cost them hundreds of millions of dollars just to participate in the process and countries which depend on tariffs say they must find ways to replace the expected loss in revenue.
"The essential thing to do is to ensure that all parties leave (the negotiations for a free trade zone) feeling that they have benefited and that the smaller economies which are more vulnerable should be given specialised treatment to ensure they are integrated in a way which promotes their economic development and export diversification," Richard Bernal, CARICOM's lead negotiator in the FTAA talks, told the Caribbean News Agency (CANA) ahead of the Quebec City summit.
The loss of revenue through the abolition of tariffs is of concern to the Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. Denzil Douglas.
"We are concerned that we would be called upon to reduce our tariffs and we recognise the serious challenge to our revenue and to our economy on a whole," Douglas told CANA.
"A large percentage of our revenue comes from import taxes and if we are to enter into a relationship with the rest of the hemisphere as part of the Free Trade Area of the Americas, then we must be able to make our concerns very clear," he said.
