Pickersgill The following statement was issued by Minister of Transport and Works, Robert Pickersgill, in relation to the bilateral 'Open Skies' Air Transport Agreement recently signed by Jamaica and the United States Governments
SINCE THE disclosure last week that Jamaica and the USA had come to an "Open Skies" arrangement that would permit their airlines to freely access each others markets, there have been a number of comments in the media on the agreement and related issues.
In one instance, in an article entitled "Joking around on single airline" in the Sunday Observer of November 10, 2002, the well-known columnist Ricky Singh, asserted that the Secretary-General of CARICOM was both surprised and disturbed at the news of the signing of the Agreement. The article further suggested that other CARICOM officials, who ought to have known of such a development, were also surprised. It is therefore imperative that the air is cleared on this matter and we trust that the following points will facilitate that objective.
CONSULTATIONS
In 1997, negotiations with CARICOM for an Open Skies Agreement were proposed by the United States and, as a consequence, a CARICOM negotiating team headed by Dr. Kenneth O. Rattray, Q.C. was established. Based on consultations among CARICOM states, a final draft CARICOM proposal was submitted in 1998 to the United States in response to their proposal.
It was recognised that in the case of Jamaica the existing liberalised regime concluded in 1979 between the Government of Jamaica and the Government of the United States (via a Protocol to the 1969 Air Transport Agreement) went beyond the CARICOM proposal, many of the features of which were reflected in the standard US draft Open Skies Agreement and that adjustments would have to be made to the CARICOM draft so as to take the 1979 Provisions into account in the conclusion of any bilateral Open Skies Agreement between Jamaica and the United States.
These proposals were based upon the recognition that notwithstanding any Agreement that may have been arrived at multilaterally, each CARICOM State would still be required to sign bilaterally with the USA, because adjustments would have to be made to any Agreement in order to take into consideration the special circumstances of individual states.
PROBLEMS
No developments have taken place in the proposed CARICOM negotiations in spite of many requests for securing a date for such negotiations. It was clear that the United States had formidable problems with some of the CARICOM proposals and was therefore disinterested in pursuing talks on that basis.
Against this background, the Government of the Bahamas formally notified CARICOM on 13th March 2001 that it would independently pursue open skies negotiations with the United States. Belize is also a party to an Open Skies Agreement with the USA. Jamaica was therefore seeking to explore further liberalisation opportunities for increased market access into and through the United States in view of the limited access permitted under the 1979 Agree-ment.
In practical terms, the liberalised regime, which existed between Jamaica and the United States under the 1979 Agreement, meant that the move to an Open Skies regime would not require a quantum leap. The basic framework of the existing 1979 regime was that of a fair competition environment with the following provisions, among others:
(a) No limits on the number of airlines that could be designated by any party;
(b) Unrestricted capacity and frequencies on the specified routes (with a limit of 10 points in the USA for Jamaican air carriers);
(c) Fifth freedom rights (traffic between Jamaica or the United States and a third country but limited to specified routes) including routes through Jamaica to the Caribbean;
(d) Liberal charter arrangements;
(e) Provisions for carriers to self-handle their passengers and cargo or to select among competing agents for such services.
(f) Provisions designed to assure standards of safety and security; and
(g) Provisions for dispute settlement.
In recognition of the need to expand its air transport relations with the United States and to take advantage of the opportunities available for the carriage and transhipment of cargo, particularly in the context of the revolution in telecommunications and Internet marketing, Jamaica negotiated an Open Skies Air Cargo Agreement with the United States in October 2000, about which CARICOM had been made aware.
FURTHER LIBERATION
Air Jamaica, having reached the limits of its expansion with respect to the 10 points to the United States, the future development and planning of the aviation needs of the country with particular reference to trade and tourism called for a further liberalisation of the market opportunities in the air transport relationship between Jamaica and the United States.
Separate and apart from that development, CARICOM was formally notified by diplomatic note dated September 24, 2002 by Jamaica's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, that Jamaica would pursue bilateral discussions with the United States and that we would be prepared to assist CARICOM countries in any further negotiations with the United States, which they may wish to pursue, and to bear in mind some of the concerns expressed by CARICOM in the context of our own negotiations.
In submitting Jamaica's formal notification to CARICOM, we were following the precedence established by Bahamas and Belize and the understanding that even within the framework of the stalled CARICOM proposal for negotiations, the special needs of individual countries would be negotiated bilaterally.
There are no limits on the number of airlines that may be designated by either country. This is similar to the existing position in the 1979 Agreement. Jamaica maintained its CARICOM perspective in our negotiations and accordingly proposed that in addition to the right of each party to designate carriers that are substantially owned and effectively controlled by homeland nationals, Jamaica should have the right to designate carriers that are substantially owned and effectively controlled by member states or nationals of the Caribbean Community in order to recognise the principle of community of interest adopted by ICAO for the benefit of developing countries.
The United States delegation recognised the practical concern raised by the Jamaican delegation. It noted that the US Department of Transportation had generally been and would continue to be amenable on a case-by-case basis to licensing carriers with non-homeland ownership and control interest.
In this connection it is to be noted that under the principle of Community of Interest the United States has recognised Air Jamaica as the national carrier for Barbados and St. Lucia. It was therefore reassuring to record that this recognition would continue. The agreed principle of the Community of Interest certainly belies any implication that by signing a bilateral open skies agreement with the USA, Jamaica has intrinsically undermined any possible future agreement by CARICOM States to establish a regional airline.
