The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas’ services and investment offer was last week finally approved for incorporation in the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU), having made the second highest number of commitments in this key sector out of all CARIFORUM nations.

Confirming the development in response to Tribune Business inquiries, after this newspaper was tipped that the joint CARIFORUM-EU Trade and Development Committee had approved the Bahamas’ commitments, the Ministry of Financial Services likened the move to “the doorway through which which Bahamian businesses might be granted the preferential treatment” by the EU when it came to services and investments.

“In particular, its completion will secure for Bahamian businesses increased market access to the economies of the European Union and CARIFORUM countries,” the Ministry added.

The Trade and Development Committee’s decision, taken last week at a meeting in Trinidad, means the Bahamas’ services and investments commitments will this month be submitted to the CARIFORUM-EU Ministerial Joint Council, the body that governs and oversees the EPA. The Joint Council’s ratification/adoption, and the incorporation of the Bahamas’ commitments into the agreement, is considered a formality.

Last week’s events mean that the Bahamas has finally, almost four years after signing on to the EPA, fulfilled all its obligations and commitments. This nation, especially in services and investments, is now operating under the full text of what it signed up to.

Although the Bahamas formally executed, and signed on to, the EPA on October 15, 2008, its services and investments commitments had still to be submitted and approved. Provisions were made, though, for this nation’s offer to be incorporated at a later date.

Viana Gardiner, the Bahamas’ acting director of trade and industry, during her presentation to last week’s Trinidad meeting, said: “At that time, the Bahamas accepted without further question the investment and services schedules negotiated by CARIFORUM and the EU countries.

“The preferential treatment in these areas were not granted to the Bahamas in the interim, and negotiations continued between the Bahamas and the EU.”

While talks between the Bahamas and the EU did not conclude within the six-month period allowed by the EPA post-agreement, they were concluded on January 25, 2010. CARIFORUM member states had made no previous objections or requests, and the Bahamas’ investment and services offer was initialled that same month, “signalling acceptance that the Bahamas had achieved ‘substantial coverage’ by its commitments”.

Ms Gardiner added: “In its trade in services schedule, the Bahamas made approximately 147 services schedule commitments. Using the data of the Regional EPA Implementation Unit of CARIFORUM, the Bahamas’ services commitments represents the second largest volume of commitments in the CARIFORUM grouping, following the Dominican Republic which has approximately 162 service sector commitments.

“Notwithstanding that the Bahamas’ commitments have yet to be incorporated as part of the EPA, the Bahamas has undertaken certain initiatives towards fulfilling those commitments, and both the letter and spirit of the EPA, as regards investment and trade in services.”

To fulfill its EPA commitments, and provide the necessary transparency and clarity, Ms Gardiner said the Bahamas was developing a Foreign Investment Bill. This will transform the National Investment Policy into statute, codifying the investment regime, the incentives available and providing for further liberalisation.

The Government had also drafted intellectual property rights legislation to comply with World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPIO) criteria, while a ‘gap’ analysis had shown this nation’s Immigration law provisions “currently exceed the liberalisation thresholds provided for in the EPA”.

“The investment and services commitments made by the Bahamas, and initiatives in these areas taken subsequent to the conclusion of negotiations, are indicative of the Bahamas’ commitment to trade liberalisation processes and are growing strides towards our engagement in these processes,” Ms Gardiner said.

Ryan Pinder, minister of financial services, is due to attend the Ministerial Joint Council meeting in Brussels on October 26, 2012.