By Denise Clarke, Staff Reporter .JPG)
Moss-Solomon
WESTERN BUREAU:
TRADE POLICIES in the United States are hampering negotiations within the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) concerning the implementation of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), according to James Moss-Solomon, a director at the Grace, Kennedy Group.
He told delegates at the 2002 International Forum of the Americas yesterday that CARICOM was moving for a speedier implementation of the CSME, as it relates to the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).
Mr. Moss-Solomon, who was recently appointed Private Sector Advisor to the Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM) said the inequities surrounding US trade policies have left CARICOM wondering whether negotiations should continue.
"The US needs to realise that the concept of globalisation brings with it the need for equity among the trading partners," Mr. Moss-Solomon said.
The continued application of non-tariff barriers would hinder the negotiating process, he said, and questioned whether the negotiations would be an advantage to developing countries or whether they should give in to "the unfair practices of the developed world".
"Developing countries, particularly those with economies based on agriculture, need to be given special consideration and must be allowed free access to markets without having to face the distortions of trade subsidies and other non-tariff barriers," Mr. Moss-Solomon said.
A failure to recognise this, he contended, would eventually lead to a new 'trade cold war' which could have devastating effects on world trade and peace.
He said the free movement of people between countries must be on the negotiating agenda of the FTAA if any agreement is to be reached.
"If we are to continue negotiating in good faith it will be necessary to give us the option of free movement of people within the FTAA in a similar way to that which obtains in the European Union," he said.
It is this inequity in trade among countries that has led to desperate acts of terrorism by some elements, he suggested, adding that trade was an essential deterrent to open warfare.
Delegates from more than 100 countries are attending the forum which ends on Friday. Governor-General Sir Howard Cooke, who declared the forum open, also said inequities in trade between developed and developing countries needed to be addressed.
