Caribbean Trade Law and Development

Month: October 2016

  • Caribbean Weekly Trade & Development Digest – September 25-October 1, 2016

    Caribbean Weekly Trade & Development Digest – September 25-October 1, 2016

    These are some of the major trade and development headlines and analysis across the Caribbean region and the world for the week of September 25-October 1, 2016. 

    For past issues, please visit here.

    Regional

    Dominican officials meeting heralds stronger trade ties 

    Dominican Today: The foreign ministers of the Dominican Republic, Miguel Vargas and of Haiti, Pierrot Delienne, on Thursday announced a meeting of the Joint Bilateral Commission set for October 19, when topics pending since the last meeting in Port au Prince will be addressed. Read more

    Dominican Agro Sector: Time to renegotiate DR-CAFTA Trade Deal

    Dominican Today: Dominican Republic’s agro producers (Confenagro) on Thursday said the DR-CAFTA free trade deal must be reviewed and evaluated, as stipulated in executive order 260-16 issued Sept. 17. Read more

    Can Upscale Chocolate turn the tide on Haiti’s devastating deforestation

    Scroll.in: When a tiny Quebec chocolate maker won a gold prize at this year’s premier International Chocolate Awards for a bar made with Haitian cocoa beans, it rocked the specialty chocolate world. The cocoa beans had been on the market for less than a year, and a Haitian chocolate bar had never before received the award. Read more

    European Union to consider approval of accord with Cuba

    CaribbeanNewsNow: The European Union on Thursday proposed that its member states to consider approval of a political and cooperation accord with Cuba aimed at normalizing relations with the Caribbean nation.Read more

    The Sharing Economy and Caribbean Tourism – Op Ed by CTO Head Mr. Hugh Riley

    Caribjournal: The marketplace is evolving. Ten years ago no one imagined homeowners opening their doors and welcoming strangers to bunk at their tropical beach bungalows or private cozy homes for affordable rates. Forget about standing out in the street waving frantically to flag down a taxicab or worrying about having enough change to hop on a bus. Those days are over. Read more

    International

    WTO Panel to Discuss India’s Paper on TFA in Services on Oct 5

    The Indian Express: The first meeting of a WTO panel to discuss the new concept paper floated by India on a proposed trade facilitation agreement in services will be held on October 6 in Geneva. India is pitching for this agreement with a view to reduce transaction costs by doing away with unnecessary regulatory and administrative burden on trade in services.Read more

    WTO cuts 2016 world trade growth forecast to 1.7% 

    Reuters: The World Trade Organization cut its forecast for global trade growth this year by more than a third on Tuesday, reflecting a slowdown in China and falling levels of imports into the United States.Read more

    CITES to vote on legalising Rhino horn trade

    IOL: Parties wait with baited breath to find out if two-thirds of the 182 parties at CITESCOP17 will vote in favour of legalising rhino horn.The 17th meeting of the parties for Cites breaks tomorrow for two days, and early next week for some important votes to take place. Read more

    US-Africa Trade Relationship in Focus at AGOA Forum

    ICTSD: On 22-26 September, African and US ministers, trade officials, civil society, and business sector representatives gathered in Washington D.C. to discuss the implementation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) at the 15th AGOA Forum. Held once a year, the event gives all stakeholders the opportunity to exchange on potential avenues for enhancing US-Africa economic ties. Read more

    EU and US Trade Negotiators seek to get TTIP talks back on track

    TheGuardian: Trade negotiators will meet in New York next week to search for common ground on the controversial EU-US trade deal, which has been buffeted by strong opposition on both sides of the Atlantic. Read more

    Lack of Transparency in PACER-Plus paints bleak future for Pacific peoples

    RadioNewZealand: A Pacific academic says the lack of transparency around negotiations on the proposed regional trade deal PACER-Plus does not bode well for indigenous peoples. Read more
    BREXIT: PM to trigger Article 50 by end of March
    BBC:  Theresa May will formally begin the Brexit process by the end of March 2017, she has told the BBC.The PM’s announcement on triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty – which begins the formal negotiation process – means the UK looks set to leave the EU by the summer of 2019. Read more

    Recent Articles on Caribbean Trade Law & Development Blog

    For past issues, please visit here.

    Alicia Nicholls, B.Sc., M.Sc., LL.B. is a trade and development consultant with a keen interest in sustainable development, international law and trade. You can also read more of her commentaries and follow her on Twitter @LicyLaw.

  • WTO Public Forum 2016 focuses on “Inclusive Trade”

    Alicia Nicholls

    How can we make trade and trade rules more inclusive for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and women in business? This was the central theme with which government representatives, NGOs, civil society organizations, business leaders, academics, students and ordinary citizens from around the world grappled at the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Public Forum held September 27-29, 2016. The flagship outreach event in the WTO’s calendar, the 2016 Public Forum attracted a record 2,000 registrants according to WTO Director General, Roberto Azevedo in his opening remarks on the first day of the event.

    This year’s main theme “Inclusive Trade” is timely given the current global trade and economic climate marked by slowing global trade and economic growth, rising anti-trade sentiment in advanced economies and a strong populist backlash against the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

    On the first day of the event, the WTO Secretariat launched its flagship trade policy publication, the World Trade Report 2016. Themed “Levelling the Trading Field for SMEs“, the Report explores SMEs’ participation in global trade, obstacles to their participation and cooperative approaches to promoting SME participation in global trade. Among the Report’s findings are that “trade participation of SMEs in developing countries is low, with exports accounting for 7.6 per cent of manufacturing sales, compared to 14.1 per cent for larger firms”.

    In his opening remarks Director-General Azevedo noted that the backlash against trade and globalisation is not unique during periods of low growth, but cautioned that “history also shows the dramatic consequences that this kind of sentiment can have”. He explained that while trade was an important anti-poverty tool there needs to be acknowledgement that the benefits of trade “don’t reach as many people as they should and we should act … not by attacking trade, but by making it work better.”

    Throughout the three-day event, a number of sessions and workshops were held exploring various themes, including e-commerce and bridging the global digital divide, SME access to trade finance, the sustainable development goals (SDGs), regional trade agreements (RTAs), sustainable investment, inter alia.

    Audio recordings of the various sessions are available on the WTO’s website here.

    Alicia Nicholls, B.Sc., M.Sc., LL.B. is a trade and development consultant with a keen interest in sustainable development, international law and trade. You can also read more of her commentaries and follow her on Twitter @LicyLaw.