The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor BOTH the Government and the private sector have done a poor job in preparing for, and negotiating, international trade agreements affecting the Bahamas, the Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation's (BCCEC) chairman told Tribune Business yesterday. But Winston Rolle's personal view was contradicted by Zhivargo Laing, minister of state for finance, who told this newspaper that the Government, its consultants and private sector representatives brought into the process had done "a fantastic job" in safeguarding and advancing the Bahamas' economic interests given available resources. Telling Tribune Business that there had been "no hiccups or challenges" to date in the Bahamas' bid to accede to full World Trade Organisation (WTO) membership, Mr Laing said the second meeting with the WTO Working Group - the nations with which this country is negotiating its accession terms - is set for summer 2012. The minister, acknowledged, though, that the creation of a dedicated Trade Unit within the Government would help "maximise" the resources the Bahamas has when it comes to negotiating international trade agreements. The Bahamas has already signed on to the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU), a process that was marked with uncertainty right up until the last minute over the Government's position and whether it would ultimately sign-on. And, apart from the WTO accession process, CARICOM is also negotiating on behalf of the Bahamas and other Caribbean countries a replacement trade agreement for the existing CARIBCAN arrangement with Canada. Ultimately, a new trade agreement with the US will also have to be worked out. When asked about the Bahamas' trade agreement performance by Tribune Business yesterday, the Chamber's Mr Rolle replied: "Personally, I don't feel we've done a very good job. "Not all of that rests at the feet of the Government. The private sector has not got themselves involved in the process. I've been trying to get the private sector to realise that while trade agreements are negotiated by the Government, they impact business, so it's best for us to get involved and let government know what our position is so they can negotiate appropriately." Tribune Business revealed yesterday how an Inter-American Development (IDB) report had warned that the absence of a dedicated trade unit within the Government could make the negotiation and implementation of trade agreements, including the accession to the WTO, "extremely challenging". Mr Rolle said the $16.5 million project, with $15 million funding from the IDB, and its plans to create such a dedicated unit were "significant for a number of reasons". "Obviously we need to have a cadre of professionals there who are quite aware of trade negotiations and the tactics being used around the world, so that when we are negotiating with these countries we are not doing so blindly," the BCCEC chairman said. He added that the legal, technical jargon common to most trade agreements needed to be de-coded so that "the business community, and Bahamians at large, understand what these trade agreements mean and how they can impact our way of life and business". Mr Rolle explained: "The whole WTO accession process, and trade agreement process, for the most part are foreign languages to locals." Meanwhile, Mr Laing, responding to the concerns raised in the IDB report, said there was "no harm" in creating a dedicated government trade unit as a way of maximising the Bahamas' resources on these issues. However, he appeared not to wholeheartedly agree with the IDB report's assertion that the Bahamas might find the WTO and other trade negotiations "extremely challenging" without such a unit. Noting that the Government had acquired trade consultancy expertise from Canada "over the entirety of this process", Mr Laing told Tribune Business: "We have done a good job with the resources we have. "The Ministry of Finance's economics division, along with the international consultants and domestic expertise we have brought into the process have done a fantastic job with regard to the WTO accession process so far. "We've moved along with it smoothly, comfortably and knowledgeably, and I'm very pleased with the way we have proceeded so far. There's been no challenges or hiccups with the WTO process thus far." Mr Laing said the Bahamas had answered all the "technical queries" raised during their first meeting by members of the Working Group negotiating this nation's accession to full WTO membership. The Bahamas was now "making preparations for the second meeting of the Working Group scheduled for this summer".