The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas is pushing its next WTO talks back by one month, with its chief negotiator pledging that the country will not “blindly” rush into membership of global trade’s rules-setting body.

Zhivargo Laing told Tribune Business that The Bahamas’ next meeting with the WTO Working Party, whose members include all the countries interested in trading with this nation, was likely to take place towards the end of February rather than the initial end-January target.

He explained that The Bahamas had sought the delay to ensure that the Government and private sector arrived at “an agreed position” on any changes to this nation’s initial goods and services offers, with some industries yet to respond with the negotiating position they want Mr Laing’s team to take.

Reiterating previous promises to work “hand in hand” with the private sector to achieve the best WTO accession terms for The Bahamas, Mr Laing said there was “no other way” this could be achieved other than through the closest possible partnership between government and business.

He added that the Government’s target of completing negotiations for full WTO membership by end-2019 was not a date set in stone, adding that the pace of negotiations depended on whether The Bahamas obtained the desired economic gains and benefits.

Mr Laing expressed optimism that The Bahamas had “a legitimate case” for maintaining the status of industries listed in the current National Investment Policy as reserved for Bahamian ownership only - a goal he said his team would seek to achieve “as as much as possible”.

He added that the Government would also seek to keep existing tariff protections for Bahamian manufacturers and other vulnerable industries that rely on them to maintain their competitiveness against foreign imports, even though this nation must reduce its average tariff rate from 32 percent to 15 percent.

Mr Laing said little had changed since The Bahamas’ last Working Party meeting in September, although its members had submitted questions and clarification requests on this nation’s legal and regulatory regime for trade.

The Bahamas has already submitted replies, and Mr Laing said: “We do have another Working Party meeting that is being planned for early in the New Year, and that was initially intended for the end of January.

“We indicated to the WTO that we had undertaken to consult with the various sectors prior to any amendment to our offers so that our changes reflected consultations with the sectors. Because we’ve not heard back from some of our sectors on these discussions with them, we do not want to go ahead.”

With the WTO Working Party requiring that any information relating to an upcoming meeting be provided at least one month in advance, Mr Laing added: “We would not have been able to do that without meeting with and hearing from the sectors.

“We’ve indicated to the sectors we will walk hand in hand with yourselves, and that’s a promise I’m keeping. We haven’t gotten all the feedback from them. We want to do that prior to any adjustments presented to the WTO at the next meeting.

“We expect that perhaps that meeting will be held at the end of February so we’re able to meet with all the sectors and come to an agreed position on how we move forward. It is a commitment. It is the way we are committed to moving forward. I can’t see any other way to do it. I really can’t.”

It is the business community, not the Government, that will have to live and work with the terms the latter agrees for The Bahamas’ accession to full WTO membership - a key element in the Minnis administration’s strategy to modernise the economy, deregulate, diversify and liberalise it by attracting new industries and growth opportunities.

“What is going to happen, to the extent we and the private sector are able to come to terms with what we believe to be in the best interests of the country going forward, we will put those motions to the WTO and, to the extent they are accepted and negotiated, that will determine the pace,” Mr Laing added.

“I am not taking an approach that says you must get to some date whether or not we are able to achieve for the people of the country the aims we are seeking to achieve. Whether the pace picks up depends on how members of the Working Party respond to the positions we put forward.”

Mr Laing, a former minister of state for finance, who first communicated The Bahamas’ desire for full WTO membership when he was responsible for trade in 2001, was adamant that The Bahamas’ negotiations are driven by achieving the best possible deal for the country - not hitting some target date.

While the Government had previously eyed December 2019 for concluding negotiations, The Bahamas’ chief negotiator said this related to the fact that global trade ministers were supposed to be meeting then to ratify new accessions. That meeting has now been put back to June 2020.

“That does not mean the Government is simply blindly trying to arrive at that date without achieving the gains, benefits and manageable adjustments for the country,” Mr Laing told Tribune Business.

He confirmed that the Government was seeking to maintain the existing National Investment Policy, which reserves industries such as retail, wholesale and real estate for Bahamian ownership only, as best as possible in the WTO negotiations.

“This remains our aim - to preserve as much as possible those reserved areas, where we believe we have a legitimate case to be made for reservations,” Mr Laing said. “We’re asking to reserve as much of that as possible, and to ensure Bahamian manufacturers and farmers have the best ability to continue to develop their industries and have their products and services available for the Bahamian public.”

He added that the Government was also seeking to maintain existing tariff levels for vulnerable domestic industries, such as manufacturing, so that they remained competitive versus rival imports.

“It could even be a little better than maintain,” Mr Laing said. “There may be a more strategic mechanism to offer these sectors the best opportunity to compete. There are WTO compliant methods to do it, and some methods even simpler than the way we’ve done it in the past.

“We’re going to do what works for The Bahamas in keeping with these international trading rules and practices. That makes good sense. We’re going to do what works for the growth, the economic viability of our sectors, and maximise the economic benefits for the country. We’re not trying to do it; that’s what we’re going to do.”