The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A vocal WTO opponent yesterday promised he will "not let my guard down" despite the government's chief negotiator suggesting it was likely the 2020 accession target will be missed.

Paul Moss, pictured, head of Bahamians Agitating for a Referendum on Free Trade (BARF), told Tribune Business he remained "suspicious" given the absence of an official government statement that left no doubt it was dropping plans for The Bahamas to become a full World Trade Organisation (WTO) member.

He pledged that his group would continue its lobbying and educational efforts against joining the WTO even though Zhivargo Laing, who heads the negotiating team, suggested on his radio show that it was unlikely the Minnis administration's 2020 accession goal will be met.

Mr Laing also indicated that the government was sensitive to the political implications of Bahamian opposition to WTO membership, suggesting that completing the process may take several years and possibly never be achieved.

However, Mr Moss told this newspaper he could not "buy into" Mr Laing's statements just yet without a government statement clarifying its WTO-related policy intentions. Brent Symonette, who had responsibility for the WTO accession as minister of financial services, trade and industry and Immigration, has just been replaced in the post by Elsworth Johnson.

"I'm happy to hear it, but I'm not as trusting of the commentary because he's not the Government," Mr Moss added. "He works for them. A statement like that ought to come from the Government to buy into it all.

"I'm still suspicious, yes. They're not going to get me to let my guard down. The idea has not been dropped and the statement has not come from an official government position. He's [Mr Laing] the second person to be leading the negotiations, and he represents them.

"They've carried on, and while it's welcome news it's not one to cause myself and my group to drop our activities. We see it as being very suspicious."

Meanwhile Darron Pickstock, who heads the Chamber of Commerce's trade and investment division, told Tribune Business that the reaction to Mr Laing's comments highlighted how many Bahamians continue to view WTO membership as The Bahamas' final destination rather than a step and tool for much-needed economic reform.

"That's been the problem," he said. "It's important, but it's not the end all, be all. It's not a panacea, it's not a silver bullet. It's one of the tools in the shed for economic growth. The Government has a lot of work to do, and it will be interesting to see how they respond to Mr Laing's comments."

Mr Pickstock added that it was "no surprise" that The Bahamas might miss the June 2020 target for WTO accession given the amount of work that remains for both the Government and private sector, but reiterated that it was more important to get this nation's accession terms "right" as opposed to "rushing" in.

"He is the chief negotiator, and while he is not speaking from any point of certainty, I suppose he's decided from the timing that we won't make the June 2020 deadline," he added. "Based on the work that has to be done, the work that the Government needs to do, it's not a surprise that we're not going to make that deadline."

The Bahamas needs to pass laws to create a competition/antitrust watchdog; upgrade its intellectual property rights protection regime and sanitary and phytosanitary protections - and these are just three of multiple reforms required to meet WTO-related obligations.

"More important, we want to get it right," Mr Pickstock told Tribune Business. "Once you're locked into these agreements it's difficult to get out and manoeuvre yourself out. We want, before we lock ourselves in, to get it right. That's more important than trying to rush and meet a deadline."

Mr Moss, though, argued that the decision on whether to join the WTO should be left to the next generation of Bahamians as this economy and its various industries were simply not ready to meet the rules-based trading overseer's requirements.

Arguing that the hands of future Bahamians should not be bound, he said: "I'm opposed to it in any form. These countries that joined in the past, the developed countries, benefited from it significantly. They've had years upon years to develop their own country and citizens.

"The Bahamas is 46 years-old, and when compared to developed countries there's no comparison. We ought to take time to develop ourselves and our economy, and then another generation of Bahamians can look at it and see if it's something they want, but it's not for us to do that."