Caribbean Trade Law and Development

Month: May 2021

  • Caribbean Trade and Development News Digest – May 23-29

    Caribbean Trade and Development News Digest – May 23-29

    Welcome to the Caribbean Trade and Development News Digest for the week of May 23-29, 2021! We are pleased to bring you the major trade and development news headlines and analysis from across the Caribbean Region and the world from the past week.

    THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

    Global merchandise trade is continuing to recover in 2021 following a steep COVID-19 related drop in the second quarter of last year, according to the latest WTO Goods Trade Barometer released on 28 May. Read more here.

    The G7 Trade Ministers held their first meeting under the inaugural G7 Trade Track. The Joint Communiqué issued may be read here and the Chair’s Statement can be accessed here.

    According to Guardian (UK) reportng, Switzerland has walked out of talks on a closer trading relationship with the European Union (EU). Read the full story here.

    The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), in its latest Caribbean Quarterly Bulletin entitled “Imagining a Post-COVID Tourism Recovery: Regional Overview”, has called on Caribbean countries to undertake reforms to better position their tourism sectors to take advantage of the post-COVID-19 global tourism recovery when it occurs. Read the report here.

    Coming up this week will be the Fifty-Second Ministerial Meeting of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on 1-2 June 2021.

    Call for Blogs – Afronomicslaw Symposium: Prospects for Deepening Africa-Caribbean Economic Relations (Deadline: June 4)

    Given the limited but promising trade and investment relationship between both regions, there is a dearth of scholarly analysis on the Africa-Caribbean economic relationship. This Symposium aims to address this gap in international economic relations scholarship through considered analytical pieces exploring aspects of this understudied relationship. We invite authors to submit blog contributions which critically analyze and examine this relationship from a variety of perspectives. Read the full Call for Blogs here.

    REGIONAL NEWS

    Export revenues up more than 10 percent for first four months of 2021

    Breaking Belize News: Belize’s revenues made from exports were up more than 10 percent for the first four months of 2021, according to new data published by the Statistical Institute of Belize (SIB). Read more

    Clean and Green – The New Economy Set to Transform the Caribbean

    Caribbean Export: Seismic shifts are taking place in the global economic architecture as countries accelerate efforts to transition clean and green economies. In 2015, at the United Nations Climate Change Conference known as COP21, world leaders signed the landmark Paris Agreement. Read more

    Trinidad & Tobago’s Trade Ministry tells businesses: Seek opportunities in UK, Cariforum trade

    Newsday (T&T): Officials of the Trade and Industry Ministry encouraged local business people on Thursday to continue to explore potential investment opportunities in the United Kingdom. They did so during a virtual awareness session hosted by the ministry on the Cariforum-UK Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) for exporters in the manufacturing and services sectors. Read more

    Trade between US, Jamaica remains resilient during COVID-19, says US official

    Jamaica Observer: Chargé d’Affaires at the United States Embassy in Kingston, John McIntyre, says trade between the US and Jamaica has remained resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more

    Jamaica – US$0.50 per Pound Levy on Exported Conch

    JIS: A levy of US$0.50 has been imposed on each pound of conch exported during the 2021 conch season. Read more

    Jamaica announces plans to strengthen relations with Africa through trade, investment and tourism

    The Voice: Prime Minister Andrew Holness has announced plans to strengthen relations between Jamaica and Africa. Speaking during a webinar to mark Africa Day, the Prime Minister said there are notable opportunities for trade and investment between Africa and the Caribbean region. He also noted tourism links and connectivity would be vital going forward. Read more

    Anti-Illicit Trade Task Force appointed in Trinidad & Tobago

    Daily Express: Senator the Honourable Paula Gopee-Scoon, Minister of Trade and Industry, appointed eleven (11) members to the Anti-Illicit Trade Task Force (AITTF) at its Inaugural Virtual Meeting on May 17, 2021. Read more

    Dominican exporters see a hub in rebuilt port

    Dominican Today: Dominican Exporters Association (Adoexpo) president Elizabeth Mena, highlighted the positive impact that the rehabilitation of the port of Barahona will have in their sector. Read more

    Guyana government discussing regional energy corridor with Suriname, Brazil, French Guiana

    Newsroom: The government is in talks with some of its neighbours to create a regional energy corridor, linking Guyana’s energy infrastructure to Suriname, Northern Brazil and French Guiana. Read more

    Guyana-Canada discuss investment

    MENAFM: Minister of agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha on Monday received a courtesy call from Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana, H.E. Mark Berman, during which they discussed the many lucrative opportunities in this sector for both local and international investors, according to Department of Public Information, Guyana (DPI). Read more

    GO-Invest launches “Invest 55”

    Guyana Times: The Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest) has launched “Invest 55” in observance of Guyana’s 55th Independence Anniversary. The project aims to promote investment opportunities here through global partnerships, increased competitiveness, while globalising Guyana’s economic sectors. Read more

    Advantages of nearshoring in Barbados

    Barbados Advocate: Reasons why nearshoring in Barbados would be beneficial to financial services and technology firms came into sharp focus on Wednesday during an online webinar. Read more

    BVI leads conversations on UN support for Caribbean sustainability and resilience

    WIC News: The British Virgin Islands (BVI) has led the regional talks on the United Nations’ comparative advantage of supporting the Caribbean Islands in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Read more

    Increased tariff on soaps in keeping with COTED ruling – Finance Ministry

    Newsroom: The Ministry of Finance has taken note of a release by the A Partnership for National Unity /Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) leadership which attempts to convey that party’s indignation at a notice published by the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) regarding Guyana’s intended reinstatement of CARICOM’s Common External Tariff (CET) on soaps falling under the tariff heading HS 3401. Read more

    Call for unity between Caribbean countries and Africa

    Barbados Advocate: Former Prime Minister of Jamaica, P. J. Patterson suggests in order for Africa and the Caribbean to overcome the deficit and legacy of slavery, the two must work together in unity, purpose and action. Read more

    Incoming Caricom secretary general sets priorities

    Jamaica Observer: The incoming Caribbean Community (Caricom) secretary general, Dr Carla Barnett, says one of her first priorities will be to extend outreach of the 15-member regional integration grouping as well as implementation across member states. Read more

    INTERNATIONAL NEWS

    What’s the future of EU-Swiss relations now talks have collapsed?

    Euronews: Switzerland, a small nation of 8.6 million at the heart of Europe, is surrounded by European Union countries. So why has the Swiss government just pulled out of a seven-year negotiation with the EU to modernise the pair’s relationship? Read more

    G7 criticises nations who undermine global trade in rallying cry for reform

    Reuters: Trade ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) wealthy nations criticised countries who undermine the global trading system and called for democratic states to rally behind reforms of the international trade rulebook. Read more

    Brexit: EU-UK ‘compromise needed for NI Protocol to work’

    BBC: The EU and the UK will need to make significant compromises if they want the NI Protocol to work, the former head of the NI Civil Service has said. Read more

    British exports worth billions have faced EU tariffs since Brexit

    BBC: British exports worth billions of pounds have faced tariffs on trade with the EU since Brexit, according to an analysis of official EU statistics. Read more

    UK eyes post-Brexit trade deals with Gulf states

    CITY AM: The UK is setting its sights on a trade deal with oil-rich Gulf states as ministers close in on an investment deal with Abu Dhabi. Read more

    Brexit exclusive: UK-Norway trade deal close to collapsing as Christian-Democrats block pact to protect farmers from British beef and cheese

    City AM: A comprehensive free trade deal between the UK and Norway is at risk of collapsing as the Christian Democrat party fears such a pact would hit farmers in Scandinavia’s richest country too hard. Read more

    Africa’s free trade area offers great promise. But only if risks are managed with resolve

    The Conversation: For all its stutters and missteps, there can be little argument that the European Union (EU) has largely lived up to its ambitious billing: to create stability and growth on a continent that, for a period, was dangerously prone to nationalism and conflict. Read more

    ICC joined Trade Law Centre (TRALAC), UPS and West Blue Consulting to launch the eTradeHubs portal, a one-stop-shop for trade tools and information in Africa.

    ICC: The Women Traders in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), a partnership formed by ICC, TRALAC, UPS, and West Blue Consulting, launched the eTradeHubs portal today to mobilise women small business owners in the AfCFTA. The portal provides timely information, trade management tools and supply chain information related to the AfCFTA to business owners in the region. Read more

    Why the extent of intra-African trade is much higher than commonly believed—and what this means for the AfCFTA

    Brookings Institute: Intra-African trade is widely perceived as low compared to other regions of the world, an argument made ad nauseum in both academic and policymaking circles. Some observers are especially disparaging about its potential. Read more

    Australia’s wine industry prepares to call in World Trade Organization over China tariffs

    ABC (Australia): Australia is on the cusp of calling in the independent global trade umpire to resolve a major dispute with China. Read more

    Canada’s 2021 Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA) Model

    Govt of Canada: The Government of Canada has updated its model Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA). This new modernized and inclusive model FIPA text will serve as the basis for Canada’s future FIPA negotiations, and represents the first comprehensive revision since 2003. Read more

    U.S. requests dispute settlement panel on Canadian dairy quotas under USMCA trade deal

    Reuters: The Biden administration on Tuesday escalated a simmering trade dispute with Canada over dairy import quotas, requesting that the first dispute settlement panel under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement be formed to review the matter. Read more

    Canada’s oldest oil and gas trade association to drop ‘oil’ from its name in bid to alter image

    CBC: After 72 years, Canada’s oldest oil and gas trade association is announcing a new brand and mandate on Thursday, including the removal of the word “oil” from its name. Read more

    Canada’s cattle sector on guard as beef-labelling talk returns in the U.S.

    CBC: In the annals of North American trade disputes, the fight over mandatory country-of-origin labelling on beef and pork probably deserves its own chapter. Read more

    New Zealand backs Australia in trade spat with China ahead of Ardern-Morrison meeting

    Swissinfo.ch: Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison arrived in New Zealand on Sunday for high-level talks hours after the country’s government chose to support Canberra in its dispute with China on barley tariffs, signalling good will to work on differences in how to approach Beijing. Read more

    Liz Truss calls on G7 partners to modernise World Trade Organization

    Gov.uk: The International Trade Secretary will use the UK-hosted G7 Trade Ministerial meeting this week (27 to 28 May) to rally the world’s leading democracies to the cause of WTO reform. Read more

    China’s trade surplus over $34b in April

    CGTN: China’s international goods and services trade surplus stood at 220.1 billion yuan (about $34.47 billion) in April, official data showed on Friday. Read more

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  • Call for Submissions: Trade, Law & Development Journal (Winter 2021)

    Call for Submissions: Trade, Law & Development Journal (Winter 2021)

    Call for Submissions

    General Issue, Vol. 13, No. 2 (Winter’21)

    The Board of Editors of Trade, Law and Development, a Journal published by the National Law University, Jodhpur, is pleased to invite original, unpublished manuscripts for publication in the Winter ’21 Issue of the Journal (Vol. 13, No. 2) in the form of ‘Articles’, ‘Notes’, ‘Comments’ and ‘Book Reviews’.

    Founded in 2009, the philosophy of Trade, Law and Development has been to generate and sustain a constructive and democratic debate on emergent issues in international economic law and to serve as a forum for the discussion and distribution of ideas. Towards these ends, we have published works by noted scholars such as WTO DDG Yonov F. Agah, Dr. Prof. Ernst Ulrich Petersmann, Prof. Steve Charnovitz, Prof. Petros Mavroidis, Prof. Mitsuo Matsuhita, Prof. Raj Bhala, Prof. Joel Trachtman, Gabrielle Marceau, Simon Lester, Prof. Bryan Mercurio, and Prof. M. Sornarajah among others. TL&D also has the distinction of being ranked the best journal in India across all fields of law for seven consecutive years by Washington and Lee University, School of Law.

    Manuscripts received by August 1st, 2021, pertaining to any area within the purview of international economic law will be reviewed for publication in the Winter ’21 issue.

    Click here to download the Call for Submissions for the 13.2 General  Issue.

    For more information about the Journal, please click here. For submission guidelines, please click here. In case of any queries, please feel free to contact us at editors@tradelawdevelopment.com.

  • Happy Africa Day from the Caribbean!

    Happy Africa Day from the Caribbean!

    Happy Africa Day! This day, celebrated in African countries and in several other countries around the world, commemorates the foundation of the Organisation of African Unity on 25 May 1963 (later superseded by the African Union). Today, we in the Caribbean join with our brothers and sisters of the 54 countries in Africa to celebrate this important day.

    This year’s Africa Day theme is “Arts, Culture And Heritage: Levers for Building the Africa We Want”. Indeed, arts, culture and heritage can also be levers for building the Africa-Caribbean relationship that we want. Because of our common history and ancestry, the peoples of the Caribbean and Africa share many similarities in our music, culture, food and arts. A great example of this is the musical collaboration between two favourite artistes of mine Trinidadian Machel Montano and Nigerian Timaya a couple years ago. The arts provide fertile ground for deepening the bonds of friendship between our regions, promoting Africa-Caribbean trade, people-to-people exchange and other forms of engagement.

    Afronomics Symposium on “Prospects for Deepening Africa-Caribbean Economic Relations” – Deadline June 4

    Of course, it would be remiss of me if I fail to mention the Call for Blogs for the upcoming Afronomics Blog Symposium on “Prospects for Deepening Africa-Caribbean Economic Relations” where we are encouraging blog submissions exploring aspects of the growing Africa-Caribbean relationship. Given the limited but promising trade and investment relationship between both regions, there is a dearth of scholarly analysis on the Africa-Caribbean economic relationship.

    This Symposium aims to address this gap in international economic relations scholarship through considered analytical pieces exploring aspects of this understudied relationship. The deadline for the submission of blog contributions has been extended to Friday, June 4. For further information on the Call for Blogs and submission guidelines, please visit here.

  • Deadline Extended (June 4) – Call for Blogs – Afronomicslaw Symposium: Prospects for Deepening Africa-Caribbean Economic Relations

    Deadline Extended (June 4) – Call for Blogs – Afronomicslaw Symposium: Prospects for Deepening Africa-Caribbean Economic Relations

    Total trade volumes between African and Caribbean countries remain small, but the potential and opportunities for enhancing trade, investment and economic cooperation between these two regions are encouraging based on shared historical and cultural ties. To this end, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has announced steps to formalize relations with the African Union (AU).Several CARICOM countries have also sought to deepen bilateral ties with individual African countries. Africa-Caribbean Economic Relations and cooperation are even more critical now as countries on both sides of the Atlantic aim to kickstart economic recovery following the devastation wrought by the COVID-19 shock. Indeed, vaccine cooperation became another form of Africa-Caribbean cooperation when the AU offered CARICOM access to some of the approved vaccines from a shipment it was receiving.

    Given the limited but promising trade and investment relationship between both regions, there is a dearth of scholarly analysis on the Africa-Caribbean economic relationship. This Symposium aims to address this gap in international economic relations scholarship through considered analytical pieces exploring aspects of this understudied relationship.

    We invite authors to submit contributions which critically analyze and examine this relationship from a variety of perspectives, including but not limited to:

    • Geo-political and economic ties (both historical and present) between these two regions; 
    • The future of trade and investment relations between both regions in light of WTO-plus mega-regional trade agreements popping up;
    • EU-ACP relations e.g. EU-EPAs and issues relating to fragmentation and dilution of negotiating positions by African and Caribbean countries;
    • The impact of COVID-19 on the vulnerability of trade and investment regimes in both regions;
    • Comparative perspectives from both regions on the role of education in the advancement of critical thought in international economic relations scholarship;
    • Comparative perspectives from both regions on the regulation of digital trade/e-commerce;
    • Africa-Caribbean collaboration in multilateral fora, e.g., WTO, ACP, Commonwealth, UNCTAD; •
    • Comparative perspectives from both regions on approaches to cooperation and regional integration; 
    • Comparative perspectives from both regions on Sustainable Development, e.g., approaches to mainstreaming regulation of renewable energy, the green and blue economy into trade and investment regimes;
    • Air Connectivity/Tourism/Travel Trade, e.g., prospects for promoting leisure and business travel between CARICOM and African countries;
    • Cultural Industries collaboration;
    • Role of the private sector in shaping future Africa-Caribbean trade and investment relations;
    • Investment relations, e.g., opportunities for Africa-Caribbean FDI, cooperation on investment rule-making reform.

    Submission Guidelines:

    Essays that are submitted as part of this symposium must be analytical and original. Authors must comply with the Afronomicslaw.org blog submission guidelines accessible here. Blogs are to be submitted to afronomicslaw@gmail.com with the title ‘African-Caribbean Relations Blog Submission’.

    Deadline for Submission of Essays:

    May 14, 2021.

    Inquiries or clarifications relating to this call should be directed to Ohio Omiunu (ohio.omiunu@dmu.ac.uk) and Alicia Nicholls (alicia.nicholls@cavehill.uwi.edu)