The Tribune

The fourth Working Party meeting on The Bahamas’ bid for full World Trade Organisation (WTO) membership will take place this coming Friday in Geneva, Switzerland.

The meeting comes as the latest WTO filings show member states of the Working Party have been asking questions of The Bahamas concerning the level of subsidies provided to local farmers by the government, including those targeted at agricultural exports.

An eight-page questionnaire on “state trading” has also been issued, which is likely to focus on the level of government involvement in the Bahamian economy through state-owned enterprises (SOEs) such as Bahamasair and the level of favourable government support/treatment extended to them.

The fourth Working Party meeting will likely review revisions made to The Bahamas’ initial market access offers on goods and services. The original offers were made last year.

The Working Party, which will lead negotiations to determine The Bahamas’ WTO accession terms, consists of member states who have an interest in trading with The Bahamas. These include the likes of the US, Canada, the European Union (EU), China, the UK, members of CARICOM and, possibly, Latin American nations such as Brazil.

The WTO’s February/March newsletter said of the upcoming fourth Working Party meeting on The Bahamas: “In preparation for the fourth meeting of the Working Party, a revised factual summary of points raised and other documents were circulated in December 2018.

“The circulation of additional negotiating inputs, including revised market access offers for goods and services, is expected for early March... Three officials from The Bahamas, including chief negotiator Zhivargo Laing, participated in the Seminar on WTO accessions rules from February 4 to 15. On the margins of the seminar, the delegation held bilateral meetings with several members.”

The Bahamian delegation to this week’s Working Party meeting is led by Brent Symonette, minister of financial services, trade and industry and Immigration. He is being accompanied by Zhivargo Laing, The Bahamas’ chief WTO accession negotiator, and senior technical officers from his own ministry, the ministry of finance, the ministry of agriculture and marine resources and the Customs Department.

Several bilateral meetings with WTO member states will take place over the next four days before the fourth Working Party meeting. The delegation will also hold meetings with officials from the WTO Secretariat and other Geneva-based organisations to discuss ongoing and future technical assistance for The Bahamas.

The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers’ Confederation (BCCEC) has joined the mission as observers.