RNM UPDATE 0616
November 1,
2006
Prepared by the Communications Division of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM), this electronic newsletter focuses on the RNM, trade negotiation issues within its mandate and related activities.
- CARICOM-UNITED
STATES TRADE AND INVESTMENT COUNCIL (TIC) REVITALISED
- CARICOM
VICE - MINISTERS FOR TRADE PARTICIPATE IN INTAL/ITD
TECHNICAL WORKSHOP
- CREATIVE
INDUSTRIES WORKSHOP
- CARIFORUM
PREPARES FOR 6th ROUND OF EPA TECHNICAL
NEGOTIATIONS AND EU- CARIFORUM MINISTERIAL
- BARBADOS
NATIONAL EPA CONSULTATION
- NEWS
BRIEFS
- UPCOMING
EVENTS
CARICOM-UNITED STATES TRADE AND INVESTMENT COUNCIL (TIC)
REVITALISED
Senior Trade Officials from
CARICOM and the Office of the United States Trade
Representative (USTR) met in Washington DC on 13 October
2006 in the context of the CARICOM –United States Trade and
Investment Council (TIC) to discuss a range of trade and
investment-related issues pertinent to current and future
trade relations. This was the first meeting of the Council
following a hiatus of more than eight years. CARICOM
welcomed the revitalisation of the Council, which is viewed,
as an important forum for co-operative efforts and
furthering economic and trade relations to the mutual
benefit of the Parties.
The initiative to revive the Council was led by CARICOM
Ministers of Foreign Affairs during a meeting in the Bahamas
with United States Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice in
February this year. The TIC was established in 1991 with
the objectives of monitoring trade and investment relations
between CARICOM and the United States, identifying
opportunities for expanding trade and investment and
negotiating agreements where appropriate. In addition, the
Council is expected to hold consultations on specific trade
and investment matters of interest to the Parties and to
identify and work towards the removal of impediments to and
problems affecting trade and investment flows. While these
objectives remain pertinent to encouraging the progressive
liberalisation of trade and investment between CARICOM and
the United States, both Parties agreed on the need to update
the 1991 Agreement establishing the Council in order to make
it more relevant to current trade and investment
relationship between them.
CARICOM provided an update to USTR Officials on developments in
the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) and stressed
the importance of including initiatives in the TIC to
support the regional integration process and the achievement
of competitiveness in the region.
USTR and CRNM Director General exchange views on Doha
Negotiations
United States Trade Representative Ambassador Susan Schwab
and CRNM Director General recently exchanged views on the
prospects for the Doha Negotiations. USTR Schwab who was
addressing the CARICOM- US Trade and Investment Council
reaffirmed the commitment of the United States and the Bush
Administration to the successful conclusion of the Doha
Round, which she noted was fundamental to global economic
growth. She stressed however, that the successful
resumption and conclusion of the Doha Round was the
collective responsibility of all WTO members and not
dependent on one country. USTR Schwab called for a ‘big
ambitious and balanced Doha package’ and ‘quiet
conversations among like-minded groups of countries’ to
achieve this goal.
CRNM Director General and CARICOM Lead Negotiator Ambassador
Richard Bernal commended USTR Schwab for her personal
efforts to mobilise support for the restart of the Doha
Round and underscored the need for a ‘big, balanced and
development oriented package’ in order to deliver
tangible outcomes from the development dimension of the Doha
Round, especially for small economies. He called on the US
to support the initiatives and proposals on SVEs currently
on the table.
CBERA Waiver Update
CARICOM and US Trade Officials have agreed to continue
working together in the WTO to achieve the successful
passage of the WTO waiver for the Caribbean Basin Economic
Recovery Act (CBERA), which provides unilateral duty free
market access for most goods from CARICOM beneficiaries.
The request by the United States for an extension of the
waiver until 30 September 2008 has been discussed formally
and informally in four meetings of the WTO Council for Trade
in Goods (CTG) since March 2005. To date, the waiver
request has not been approved due to opposition mainly from
Paraguay.
During the October 13 meeting of the Trade and Investment
Council, Assistant USTR Everett Eissentat acknowledged that
the current climate in the WTO regarding preferences made
the passage of the waiver difficult, but called on CARICOM
and US officials to continue working together for its
approval. The waiver will be discussed at the next meeting
of the Council for Trade in Goods.
CARICOM VICE-MINISTERS FOR TRADE PARTICIPATE IN INTAL/ITD
TECHNICAL WORKSHOP: “PURSUING DEEPER EXTRA REGIONAL ECONOMIC
RELATIONS”
The Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery
(CRNM) in collaboration with the Inter-American Development
Bank’s
(IDB) Integration and Regional Programs Department (INT) and
its Institute for the Integration of Latin America and the
Caribbean (INTAL)
organized a Technical Workshop for CARICOM Vice Ministers of
Trade on October 11, 2006 at the IDB Headquarters in
Washington, DC.
The main objective of the workshop was to provide a forum
for technical exchanges between CARICOM Senior Trade
Officials on specific issues related to the Region’s future
trade relations in the hemisphere, with specific emphasis on
the Region’s major trading partner – the United States of
America.
This one-day consultation was seen as an important
opportunity to advance and deepen the ongoing consultations
among CARICOM Member States regarding the merits for the
Region of negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the
United States. The discussions in the Workshop usefully
informed CARICOM’s approach to some of the issues addressed
at the first Meeting of the revitalized CARICOM-United
States Council on Trade and Investment (TIC), which followed
the Workshop on 13th October in Washington, DC.
The morning and afternoon sessions featured presentations
that examined the political economy issues and the benefits
and costs of deeper economic integration, respectively. Mr.
Luis Alberto Moreno, President of the Inter-American
Development (IDB) and CRNM Director General, Dr. Richard
Bernal closed the workshop and emphasized that the
cooperation that exists between the two organizations must
continue in order secure development for the Caribbean
Region.
CREATIVE INDUSTRIES WORKSHOP
The
CRNM convened a workshop on Promoting Creative
Industries: A Trade and Investment Strategy for the
Caribbean on October 25-26 at the Grand Barbados Hotel
in Barbados. This workshop continues the dialogue on
cultural industries that emerged from the first regional
workshop
on Impact of Trade and Technology on Caribbean Creative
Industries that was held in Port of Spain, Trinidad, in
October 2004.
Cultural industries play a significant role in the future
economic development of the region and have the potential
for significantly expanded exports. Against this background,
the objective of the workshop was to bring key private and
public stakeholders together to review the policy proposals
and identify specific recommendations that can form a
strategy for Caribbean governments to develop the cultural
sectors and promote exports. These policy proposals will be
submitted to the following CARICOM bodies: COTED (Ministers
of Trade); COHSOD (Ministers of Culture); and COFAP
(Ministers of Finance).
Participants at the workshop included cultural entrepreneurs
and trade and culture officials from the Caribbean
Community.
CARIFORUM PREPARES FOR 6th ROUND OF EPA
TECHNICAL NEGOTIATIONS AND EU- CARIFORUM MINISTERIAL
As the Third phase of the EPA Negotiations draws to close at
the end of this year, CARIFORUM Negotiators and Trade
Officials will be involved in a series of regional technical
meetings in preparation for the 6th Round of
negotiations that will culminate in the EU-CARIFORUM
Ministerial on 29-30 November. A schedule of these meetings
is listed in the Upcoming Events section of the RNM Update.
The final session for the Technical Negotiating Groups (TNGs)
for the Third phase will take place on 21-24 November in
Brussels, where it is expected that a Draft Text/Agreement
will be produced that will be examined by the Ministers.
Thereafter, negotiations for the final phase will commence
in January 2007 and end in December 2007.
6th Meeting of CARIFORUM – EC Principal
Negotiators
The sixth
meeting of CARIFORUM – EC Principal Negotiators was held on
September 25-26, 2006 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
This was preceded on September 19-22 by the Fifth Round of
negotiations at the technical level. The negotiating
session was co-chaired by Dr. Richard Bernal, Director
General of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery,
representing CARIFORUM and Karl Falkenberg, Deputy Director
General, Directorate-General for Trade European Commission.
The Principal Negotiations addressed issues emerging from
the technical negotiations including the following items:
Reports of the Technical Negotiating Groups, Joint CARIFORUM
– EC Regional Preparatory Task Force (RPTF), Cotonou 37.4
Review of EPA Negotiations and Recent Trade Policy
Developments.
CARIFORUM highlighted the importance of DDA negotiations to
its own development and hence the anticipation that
negotiations will resume forthwith. The EC noted that while
it remains committed to the multilateral talks, progress
depends primarily on the US displaying the requisite
political will. The EC also informed of its readiness to
launch bilateral FTA negotiations with some important
trading partners including India, South Korea, ASEAN, Andean
Pact and Central America along with the restart of talks
with MERCOSUR. In light of the further erosion of
preferential access to the EC market, CARIFORUM was
encouraged to seize the opportunities inherent in an EPA.
The most critical successes for the region were securing
consensus for: the inclusion of a Development Chapter in
EPA, subject-specific co-operation in the several
negotiating areas including agriculture and non-agricultural
market access, services and investment.
Senator The Honourable G. Anthony Hylton’s Speech to the PSE
Conference on EPAs: Fostering Regional Integration and
Development?
Senator The Honourable G. Anthony Hylton, Minister of
Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Jamaica addressed the
PSE Conference on EPAs at the European Parliament in
Brussels, 19 October 2006.
Minister Hylton’s speech explored Economic Partnership
Agreements and their role in fostering regional integration
with specific reference to the ongoing negotiations between
the European Union and CARIFORUM. Minister Hylton’s speech
is available on the CRNM at
http://www.crnm.org.
The Conference was organized by the Socialist Members of the
European Parliament.
The Honourable Dame Billie Miller’s Speech on to the South
Centre Conference on EU-ACP Trade Relations: The Development
Challenge of EPAs
Chair of the ACP Ministerial Trade Committee and Minister of
Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Barbados, The
Honourable Dame Billie Miller delivered a speech at the
South Centre Conference on EU-ACP Trade Relations. The
Conference was held at the International Trade Union House,
Brussels on 12 October 2006.
Minister Miller’s presentation assessed the progress of the
CARIFORUM – EC negotiations for an Economic Partnership
Agreement. A full copy of the speech can be accessed from
the CRNM’s website at
http://www.crnm.org.
BARBADOS NATIONAL EPA CONSULTATION
The consultative process for the preparation of the region
in its EPA negotiations with the EU was further advanced
with the hosting of the Barbados National Private Sector
Consultations on September 28-29, 2006. In partnership with
the Barbados Private Sector Trade Team (PSTT), the CRNM
engaged stakeholders from sectors involved in trade in goods
as well as trade in services through sessions conducted
concurrently at the Sherbourne Conference Centre.
The CRNM not only updated the private
sector on the status of the ongoing EPA negotiations, but
sought feedback on specific issues impacting sectors as
Barbadian and regional entrepreneurs seek to access the
European market. According to Mr. Ramesh Chaitoo, Senior
Services Analyst with the CRNM, CARIFORUM now has to
“prioritise the kind of interests that we have in the
European Market and at some point when it gets down to
concession trading, we have to know what is our bottom line,
sector by sector.”
While there was the expectation of greater participation,
the sessions served to provide critical information on views
held by the Barbadian private sector. Participants
reiterated the call that the negotiations must pay due
priority to cross-sectoral linkages within CARIFORUM
economies.
In an early session prior to the commencement of day one of
the National consultations, the CRNM held dialogue with
government officials in an attempt to collectively determine
the steps forward through detailing information required fro
analysis as well as the establishment of the sensitivity of
different sectors.
Hosted by the Ministry of Commerce, government
representatives in attendance shared polices which may be
relevant to the negotiation process as well as future
consultations that would inform the negotiating process.
NEWS BRIEFS
CRNM Director General Addresses Bahamian Cabinet
CRNM Director General Dr. Richard Bernal
addressed the Bahamian Cabinet on Monday, 16 October 2006
on external trade issues. He was accompanied by Mr. Henry
Gill, Senior Director of the CRNM.
WTO Update – Lamy: Failure will Hurt Developing Countries
more than others
In a
report to the General Council of the WTO on 10 October 2006,
Director-General Pascal Lamy, as Chair of the Trade
Negotiations Committee, noted that it has become more
apparent that “the cost of failure, and missed opportunity
to rebalance the trading system, would hurt developing
countries more than others.” This conclusion was reported
after Lamy engaged many Ministers and officials across a
broad range of the WTO membership. The Director-General
believes that while “developing countries have been the
loudest in clamouring for a resumption in negotiations”, the
current break in negotiations should enable the membership
to “think more creatively about how trade, development and
growth can fit together into a coherent whole.”
EU moves ahead on “Aid for Trade”
The External Relations Council of the European Union held a
joint working session of Development Ministers and Trade
Ministers, with the participation of Commissioners Peter
Mandelson and Louis Michel. Despite the lack luster progress
of the Doha Round, the Council concurred that the EU should
remain true to pledges made to make EUR 2 billion available
for “Aid for Trade” on an annual basis until 2010.
With the funds earmarked for a category of projects known as
“trade-related assistance”, EUR 1 billion will come each
from the Community and collectively Member States.
Aid for Trade aims to support the capacities of developing
countries as they take advantage of new trade opportunities
that result from changes in trade rules and globalization.
An important aspect of the agreement was the commitment to
earmark a substantial share of the “aid for trade”
effort to support the ongoing Economic Partnership Agreement
(EPA) negotiations with the 79 African Caribbean and Pacific
(ACP) states.
WIPO Update – Talks on ‘Development Agenda’ for Integration
into Organization’s Functioning
Consensus on a method to address a series of divisive issues
has finally been arrived at by members of the World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) at the
organization’s General Assembly from 25 September to 3
October. Terms for the negotiation of a potential treaty on
broadcasters rights were established as well as agreement on
how to proceed with work on a series of proposals calling
for a ‘development agenda’ for integration into the
functioning of the organization. Importantly also was the
consensus to postpone dialogue on the proposal of the
harmonization of national patent systems while ensuring the
continuity of work on the protection of traditional
knowledge and genetic resources.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Oct. 30-31:
14th Meeting of the Working Group on Services
Negotiations (in preparation for CARICOM-DR negotiations),
Trinidad
Oct. 31:
CRNM Private Sector Trade Power Dialogue, Belize
Nov.1-3:
Technical Working Group on Services and Investment in EPA
Negotiations, Trinidad
Nov. 6-7:
Technical Working Group on Market Access in EPA
Negotiations, Barbados
Nov. 21-24:
Sixth Round of CARIFORUM – EC Technical Negotiating Group,
Brussels
Nov. 27-28:
VII Meeting of CARIFORUM – EU EPA Principal Negotiators,
Brussels
Nov. 29-30:
III Meeting of CARIFORUM – EC Ministers on EPA Negotiations,
Brussels
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For More Information Contact:
Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM)
2nd
Floor,
JAMPRO
Building
18 Trafalgar Road
Kingston 10,
Jamaica, W.I.
Tel: (876)
927-5114
Fax: (876)
978-4360
jamaica.office@crnm.org
Previous issues of RNM UPDATE are archived on and can be downloaded from the RNM website:
http://www.crnm.org
The ‘RNM DRAFT CALENDAR 2006 ', that provides an account of hemispheric and multilateral trade meetings, is available on the RNM website.
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