CARIBBEAN/BAHAMAS: Who benefits from FTAA

Who benefits from FTAA 

By KHASHAN POITIER Guardian Staff Reporter 

Former Economic Development Minister, Zhivargo Laing, stressed the importance 
of "open-eyed" negotiations regarding the benefits of the World Trade 
Organization (WTO) and the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA). 

While not opposed to active negotiations regarding the FTAA or the Government 
making an application to the WTO, Mr. Laing, a guest on the radio talk show 
Parliament Street Sunday, said Government must get all the information it can 
to determine whether The Bahamas will benefit. 


Who benefits from FTAA 

This is what it has been about all along. It's been about negotiating so that 
you can at least be in the position, at the end of the day, to say that I 
tried to affect my own fate in the process, these are the terms now agreed. 
Now, let me look at these. Are they going to benefit me or not. And, based on 
that determination, I can say 'yes' or 'no." 

He said that unless "special consideration" is made for small developing 
countries, like The Bahamas, then the benefits of either trade agreements 
could be attractive. 


"America is the driving force behind the FTAA. The question is why? Because, 
it believes that will benefit its economy. Well, the assumption then is if 
they will benefit, then so will we.... from a FTAA standpoint. Small 
economies can benefit, but it's not automatic. It has to be a matter of 
guarding and protecting and preserving your rights as you negotiate," he 
said. 

Small countries concerns 

To hosts Jessica Robertson and Fayne Thompson, Mr. Laing said several small 
countries are concerned that the WTO poses a threat to their agriculture 
industries. 


"The WTO has a set of rules for developed countries to open their markets 
that would directly affect small, developing economies like agriculture. That 
was the big promise of the WTO for some Safaarian, Caribbean and Latin 
American countries. The developed countries continued to subsidized their 
farmers, they continued to close off their markets, so that benefit wasn't 
realized," Mr. Laing noted. 


He continued: "So, what they are arguing is not that the WTO should be done 
away with. What they're arguing is that, 'We need new rounds, we need new 
negotiations, and we need new means of assuring that developed countries are 
holding their part of the agreement.' That's the challenge." 


Today, Mr. Laing said nothing has changed. "There exists no rules to stop 
them doing anything today. At least, in the context of the WTO there is not 
only a promise, but a real possibility." 


For example, when the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) blacklisted The 
Bahamas in 2002, and other countries like Bermuda for money laundering, 
Bermuda spent $2 million to argue before the WTO that the FATF's decision was 
"negatively affecting its trade," noted Mr. Laing. 


"The Bahamas had no such luxury. There were no rules that we could appeal to 
and there was no settlement body that we could appeal to, because we were not 
a part of any structured arrangement that at least attempted to level the 
playing field for all," he said about the WTO. 


Ms Robertson then asked her guest why the former administration, which was in 
office for 10 years, did not go ahead with the WTO agreement. 

Bahamas cautious 

Responding, Mr. Laing said he met with other regional trade ministers, who 
admitted that they knew nothing about the WTO at the time and "confessed," 
soon after entering the agreement that they would have negotiated for better 
terms. 

"The Bahamas was, at least, cautious to know that it had a very unique 
situation, in terms of our tariff structure. Other countries did not have 
that unique an issue. Our substantial dependence on trade, on our tariffs 
revenue was a big issue, so it was a non-issue for us to join at that 
time..." said Mr. Laing. 

"So, what has happened since then?" Mr. Thompson asked. 

"We have had a 10-year history now of reform of our tax system. We have been 
able to reduce the average tariff rate from 42 percent to 35 percent, reduce 
the number of custom duties from 139 to 129, we've been able to work with the 
IMF (International Mutual Fund) and others to at least look at a reasonable 
alternative to custom duties," said Mr. Laing. 

Responding to a caller, who asked whether the Government had made a formal 
statement on its position regarding the regional trade blocs, Mr. Laing said 
he could not say. 

Prime Minister Perry Christie, after inviting Barbados' prime minister to 
host town meetings regarding the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) 
in Nassau, was pressured by the media to state his position, but he was still 
unclear, observed Mr. Laing. 

Continue with negotiations 

Based on this and previous comments by Government leaders, he said "this 
crew" may be more influenced than the previous government and that there may 
be a desire to join the CSME. 

"Quite frankly, I only knew this today," he began. "The Government's position 
on the CSME is the same as the formal administration's position. The 
Government's position on the WTO is to follow-up the application that was 
made by the former administration. The Government's position on the FTAA is 
to continue the negotiations entered into by the former administration." 

He said the country must define clearly "what our interests are. Do we have 
an interest in protecting and preserving the current economic model that we 
have. Do we want to continue to be a country dominated by tourism and 
financial services, and have possibilities of adding additional sectors? And, 
if there are possibilities, could this process advance that?" 

Mr. Laing also stated that there should be more consulting with Bahamians 
regarding these issues, so that all citizens have a better understanding and 
how it affects them individually. 

Caption: TRADE TALK – Zhivargo Laing, former Economics Minister, talked about 
world and regional trading blocs on radio talk show Parliament Street on 
Sunday with hosts Jessica Robertsen and Fayne Thompson. Staff photo by 
Patrick Hanna 



Posted: Monday October 6, 2003


SOURCE: Nassau Guardian