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  • OECS WTO members underwent 4th WTO Trade Policy Review this week

    OECS WTO members underwent 4th WTO Trade Policy Review this week

    Alicia Nicholls

    On May 3-5, 2023, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) completed its fourth review of the trade policies and practices of the six Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) WTO members. These are Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The OECS delegation was led by the Honourable Everly Paul Chet Greene, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Antigua and Barbuda, and Chair of the OECS Council of Ministers of Trade. The discussant was Her Excellency Ambassador Nadia Theodore, Permanent Representative of Canada to the WTO.

    WTO members, meeting as the Trade Policy Review Body, reviewed the WTO Secretariat’s Report and the reports from the Governments of those six countries. During the meeting, WTO members had the opportunity to seek clarity from the OECS delegation on various issues relating to their trade policies and practices. The Chairperson’s concluding remarks stated that 24 delegations had taken the floor over the two-day meeting and 169 advance written questions from 12 delegations had been submitted for the review.

    According to the chairperson’s concluding remarks, the OECS members were applauded for “the constructive role that the OECS-WTO Members play in the multilateral trading system” despite their small size. They also received praise for their open trade and investment regimes and strong support of environmental action. However, major concerns raised surrounded implementation of commitments under WTO agreements and the backlog in compliance with their WTO notifications. It was pointed out in the Secretariat report that this was likely because of capacity constraints and the fall-out from the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The OECS is a regional intergovernmental organisation and subregional integration movement in the Caribbean region which was formed in 1981 with the signing of the Treaty of Basseterre, subsequently revised. All OECS members are members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Besides the six members mentioned (all six are sovereign States), it also includes a non-sovereign full member, Montserrat. These full members are part of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) and therefore share a common currency, the Eastern Caribbean dollar. Its associate members are non-sovereigns: British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Martinique and Guadeloupe.

    The TPR reports are made publicly available and are a rich source of information for trade analysts and potential investors of a country’s trade policies and its general trading and macroeconomic environment. The TPRB chairperson’s concluding remarks are released shortly after. The minutes of the meeting, as well as members questions, are also released about six weeks after the conclusion of the review.

    You can read the report and other documents here.

    Alicia Nicholls, B.Sc., M.Sc, LL.B. is an international trade specialist and founder of the Caribbean Trade Law and Development blog http://www.caribbeantradelaw.com.

  • Barbados and South Carolina: Building on Shared History to Expand Trade

    Barbados and South Carolina: Building on Shared History to Expand Trade

    This week I had the pleasure of joining, in a personal and unofficial capacity, a Barbados business delegation organised by Invest Barbados and the Barbados Consulate to Miami to the beautiful city of Charleston in the southern United States (US) state of South Carolina. For many years I have heard of the rich history between Barbados and the Carolinas. History tells us that it was in the 17th century that British planters from Barbados and their enslaved Africans established a “colony of a colony” in the Carolinas, the area now roughly North and South Carolina. A vibrant underground trade existed between the colonies of Barbados and the Carolinas during the colonial era but current Barbados-South Carolina trade is quite small.

    This three-day trade mission afforded me the opportunity not just to learn much more about this history, but more germane to my profession, consider how these historical ties could be leveraged to expand on the currently miniscule trading relationship between Barbados and the ‘Palmetto State’. In this article, I share my initial reflections coming out of this visit.

    Sweet Home Carolina?

    One of the first things which struck me upon arrival to Charleston, the State’s largest city, was the warmth of the people I met. Like my visit to Charlotte, North Carolina a couple years ago, this visit felt almost like coming back home. Charleston is a coastal city of roughly 150,000 people but feels, in many ways, like a small town. Its colourful architecture, tree-lined streets and southern charm were immediately alluring to me.  

    The Barbados-South Carolina connection has its historical genesis in the evils of colonialism and the blood, sweat and tears of our enslaved ancestors. However, because of that unfortunate historical connection, there is much about Charleston that feels familiar to a Barbadian. People would pass you on the street and say good morning, which is something I am used to in Barbados but not in the US! While trying to get from the airport to my hotel, a complete stranger kindly offered me his phone to call my hotel and made sure I was covered with transportation before he left. That kind gesture took me pleasantly by surprise but I later learnt this was all part of the Charlestonian way. Besides the warmth of the people, many of the customs, the architecture and the food reminded me of home, as well as the uncanny similarity between the Gullah language and our Bajan dialect.

    But what does all of this have to do with trade? All business, including international trade, is built on relationships. One of the key benefits of participating in trade missions is the ability for businesses to establish relationships with officials and potential business partners, gather preliminary on the ground market intelligence and learn a bit about the culture, business climate and opportunities in the potential target market.

    This mission was just one of several efforts over the years at expanding people-to-people and business links between Barbados and South Carolina. Charleston and Speightstown, which share a historical relationship, have been twin cities since the 1990s. Significant credit behind many of these Barbados-Carolinas initiatives goes to Barbados’ Honorary Consul to South Carolina and CEO/Founder of the Barbados and the Carolinas Legacy Foundation, Miss Rhoda Green, a Barbadian based in the US. ‘Miss Rhoda’, as she is affectionately called, has been a tour de force in educating Barbadians and Carolinians about the Barbados-Carolinas connection and her bubbly spirit and passion are instantly charming. She had also written the foreword to the canonical book “The Barbados-Carolina Connection” by Warren Alleyne and Henry Fraser, which is definitely recommended reading for anyone interested in this historical relationship.

    In October 2022, Charleston’s Mayor John Tecklenburg, himself a businessman, led a large business delegation to Barbados. In his address on the first day of the current delegation, Mayor Tecklenburg emphasized the importance of the Barbados-Carolinas connection and noted his hope that these business delegations would be an ongoing exchange. Indeed, a South Carolinian business delegation will be coming back to Barbados in October of this year. Similarly, Barbados’ Consul General to Miami, Rudy Grant, which also has responsibility for eleven US states (South Carolina included), reiterated the importance of commercial diplomacy to helping expand Barbados-South Carolina trade ties.

    Much of Barbados’ trade with the US is concentrated with the US State of Florida. Two-way merchandise trade between Barbados and South Carolina is very small and concentrated in only a narrow range of goods. South Carolina enjoys a trade surplus with Barbados. Similarly, South Carolina mainly trades with North America and Asia. Barbados does not rank within its top markets. Addressing us in front of the soon-to-be-opened International African American Museum, South Carolina State Senator Marlon Kimpson, who was recently appointed to President Joe Biden’s Trade Advisory Council, remarked on this limited trading relationship and stated his willingness to work with Barbados on expanding it.

    Areas of Opportunity

    One of the things that became clearer to me coming out of this mission was that there are many areas of opportunity for expanding and diversifying our trade with South Carolina. One area is tourism, particularly niche areas like heritage, culinary, genealogical, medicinal, educational tourism, among others. There is much for a Barbadian tourist to see in Charleston. On the first day, Miss Rhoda provided us a stirring tour of the Charleston Landing’s museum showcasing the Barbados-Carolinas history. This is also definitely an attraction many Barbadians will likely enjoy. Certainly, I did! On the second day, the delegation was graciously provided with a sneak preview of the International African American Museum by its dynamic and insightful President and CEO Dr. Tonya Matthews. The museum is built on the site of a former slave port, a fact driven home by the hunched sculptures representing our enslaved ancestors awaiting their fate. The exhibits offer a raw and powerful look into the lived realities of the African-American experience from historical times to the present-day. The histories narrated share not just the travails and triumphs of those of black descent in America but also weave in the stories of persons from Latin America and the Caribbean, again reiterating that shared history between us.

    Additionally, there is much opportunity for collaborative research, business and investment in the areas of renewable energy and the blue and economy between Barbados and South Carolina. Of interest is that the Sea Turtle Care Center at the South Carolina Aquarium, another must-see attraction, is the largest turtle hospital on the US eastern seaboard. Its CEO Mr. Kevin Mills shared that South Carolina is dealing with some of the same issues we have in Barbados regarding turtle conservation, such as turtles and their hatchlings being injured by manmade hazards. Like all cities, Charleston has its share of problems as does Barbados. But like Barbados is in the Caribbean, Charleston is one of the most attractive markets for business in the US. The city also has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the US. With South Carolina’s ‘low country’ being vulnerable to the effects of climate change, the state is not unfamiliar with the imperative to pivot after a major disaster. Hurricane Hugo in 1989 had caused significant devastation and has made resilience a key consideration for them, similar to Barbados.

    Charleston’s proximity to Miami makes getting to the city relatively easy for both business and leisure travel for Barbadians. Moreover, most Barbadian goods exports to the US benefit from duty free treatment in the US under the Caribbean Basin Initiative, a one-way trade preferences scheme implemented by the US Government since the 1980s.

    In turn, the Barbados delegation, comprising mainly delegates from Invest Barbados, the National Cultural Foundation (NCF), the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc (BTMI) and the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) and private individuals, did a fabulous job of selling Barbados as a place for work, play and investment. The team highlighted not just the shared connection, but Barbados’ political and economic stability, openness to investment, stable business climate, and its network of trade, tax and investment agreements. Invest Barbados also shared its Blue Book of investment projects for interested investors.

    The response and enthusiasm from the South Carolinian business community and their interest in learning about trading and investment opportunities with Barbados reiterated to me that there is much to be gained from this relationship. The South Carolinian businesses represented included manufacturing, renewable energy, higher education, real estate, financial services and logistics, among others. The budding relationship between the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) and the Charleston Metro Chamber, both the oldest chambers in their respective markets, also bodes well for members of both chambers.

    I wish to thank Invest Barbados for the opportunity to join this delegation. I also thank my fellow delegates for a wonderful time of both work and play. I also wish to thank the people of Charleston for their impeccable hospitality, including the Barbados-Carolinas Legacy Foundation. I look forward to seeing this Barbados-Carolinas trade connection grow and flourish.  May the levels of trade between us one day be as rich as the history we share!

    Alicia Nicholls, B.Sc., M.Sc., LL.B. is an international trade consultant and founder of the Caribbean Trade Law and Development Blog: Caribbeantradelaw.com. She was part of the Barbados delegation to Charleston, South Carolina in a personal and unofficial capacity.

    Correction: The number of States for which the Barbados Miami consulate has responsibility has been corrected to eleven.

  • Caribbean Trade and Development News Digest – April 16-22, 2023

    Caribbean Trade and Development News Digest – April 16-22, 2023

    Welcome to our Caribbean Trade and Development News Digest covering the week of April 16-22, 2023! 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. We do hope you enjoy this week’s edition!

    What’s new on the blog? This week’s blog piece differs a bit from our usual trade-related content but focuses on a topic which is very much en vogue at the moment in the region, that is, diaspora voting. Should the Caribbean diaspora vote in national elections back home? My co-author Kevon Edey of KevzPolitics and I discuss this. Have a read here!

    THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS!

    Foreign ministers from CARICOM and India met this week for the 4th CARICOM-India Ministerial Meeting. The remarks from Jamaica Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith may be read here. Caribbean Export held its 2nd Annual Results Report this week. The report may be accessed here.

    Foreign ministers from The OECS Business Council (OBC) and the Caricom Private Sector Organization (CPSO) have entered into a new cooperation agreement in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). See more here: http://prez.ly/nPwc.

    REGIONAL NEWS

    CARICOM to further deepen relations with India

    Jamaica Gleaner: Incoming chair of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Council on Foreign and Community Relations, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith says she remains confident that Friday’s discussions between India and Caricom officials “will be fruitful and reflect the spirit of cooperation that defines Caricom-India relations”. Read more

    uS$2 billion fuel bill stokes record trade deficit

    Jamaica Observer: The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (Statin) in its latest release on the country’s external trade position show total imports reached US$7.1 billion over the 11 months, January to November 2022, up 31 per cent. The value of exports rose as well, going up 23 per cent to US$1.6 billion, as fuel shipped to other countries was valued twice as much as the year before. Read more

    INTERNATIONAL NEWS

    How implementation committees are moving the African free trade area from talks to action

    WEF: A fully implemented African Continental Free Trade Area would transform economies, raise African gross domestic product by 9% and reduce poverty by 50 million. It could also be a catalyst for further changes and attract investment from within Africa and beyond. Read more

    AfCFTA: Remove visas, reduce customs process to ease logistics

    East African: The umbrella bodies of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) private sector have called for the removal of visas and reduction of custom processes to ease movement of goods within the African continent. Read more

    Germany backs EU-Indonesia trade pact to curb China reliance

    AP: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Sunday that he will press for a trade agreement between the European Union and Indonesia as part of his country’s efforts to reduce its reliance on China for crucial raw materials. Read more

    UK Trade Minister in US to sign fourth trade pact with a US state
    UK.gov: Nigel Huddleston is in Washington to deepen UK-US trade ties and secure two wins that will boost jobs, investment and exports across the Atlantic. Read more

    US-led Pacific Framework might see results this year: USTR

    Nikkei: Talks to hammer out the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) are making “very good progress,” and could see tangible results as early as this year, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said Thursday. Read more

    STRAIGHT FROM THE WTO!

    NEW ON THE CTLD BLOG

    The Caribbean Trade & Development Digest is a weekly trade news digest produced and published by the Caribbean Trade Law & Development Blog. Liked this issue? To read past issues, please visit here. To receive these mailings directly to your inbox, please subscribe to our Blog below:

  • Should non-resident Caribbean citizens vote in national elections?

    Should non-resident Caribbean citizens vote in national elections?

    Alicia Nicholls and Kevon Edey

    Should the Caribbean diaspora, or rather non-resident Caribbean citizens, be entitled to vote in national elections back home? This thorny issue has arisen again, including in a recent Kevz Politics Twitter poll, as Caribbean countries seek to make greater diaspora engagement a key plank of their post-COVID-19 development strategies. In Barbados, the issue also owes its contemporaneity to the on-going post-republic constitutional reform discussions in which the diaspora has also been engaged. We aim to contribute to this important development debate by discussing some of the issues to be considered as Caribbean countries navigate this question.  

    The Caribbean’s diaspora

    The Caribbean’s diaspora is often hailed as one of its greatest untapped resources. A 2013 World Bank study estimated a one-to-one ratio on average of the Caribbean diaspora to residents. As the saying goes, there is a Caribbean person wherever you go in the world, but the main Caribbean diaspora hubs are concentrated in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Canada and continental Europe.

    Caribbean countries’ efforts to deepen links with their diaspora communities predate the COVID-19 pandemic and over 85% of the respondents of the cited World Bank study already were giving back in some way to the region. However, the current polycrisis international economy forces Caribbean countries to think creatively about how the diaspora could more actively contribute to a sustainable and inclusive recovery and to the region’s achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030. Whereas initiatives to increase the diaspora’s economic involvement in their homeland’s economies are largely uncontroversial, diaspora political engagement has been less so.

    Diaspora Voting: Some Considerations

    Diaspora voting, sometimes called ‘external’ or ‘emigrant voting’, refers to the participation of the diaspora community in the electoral process in their country of origin. A growing number of countries, both developed and developing, permit voting by their non-resident, overseas nationals. The US allows its citizens to vote, regardless of location,  once they are registered to vote. In the UK, one can register as an overseas voter once he or she is a citizen and was registered to vote in the UK within the last 15 years.

    Internationally, various diaspora voting modalities exist, such as voting in-person at a diplomatic mission, via postal ballot or even by proxy. Some countries restrict the types of elections in which overseas nationals could vote, often limiting the right to vote to general and not municipal elections. France reserves 11 diaspora constituencies out of the 577 seats in total in the national assembly and also has diaspora representation in its Senate. Some other countries allow overseas voters to vote in the constituency in which they were registered prior to leaving.  

     In Commonwealth Caribbean countries, the right to be registered to vote is generally based on being a citizen of that country but with the requirement that the person be resident in the constituency in which they wish to vote for a defined minimum period of time, depending on national law. Under the Barbados Representation of the People Act, that period of time is three months, with some exceptions. Similarly, Barbados electoral law allows Commonwealth citizens to be eligible to vote if they have lived here for at least three years immediately before the qualifying date. As Barbados undergoes the constitutional reform process, one question to be considered is whether the right to vote should be enshrined for those in the diaspora, even if non-resident in Barbados. It was recently reported in the local news media that diaspora voting was one of the recommendations made by some members of the diaspora during on-going stakeholder consultations held by the Constitution Reform Commission. Indeed, it was reported that commissioners had also consulted the Barbados diaspora in three UK cities.  

    It reiterated yet again the desire by some in the Barbadian and Caribbean diaspora who are not currently eligible to do so to be able to vote in national elections. The diaspora already votes to some extent. There is the practice of persons flying in to meet residency requirements in advance of an election or to cast their ballot if they are still on the voters’ list. However, the issue relates to whether the persons eligible to vote in the diaspora should be expanded. Proponents of diaspora voting posit, inter alia, that if the diaspora is being asked to invest and contribute even more to national development, they should have a greater say in national issues and the democratic process. However, the results of a recent Kevz Politics online opinion poll conducted in April found that 65% – or two-thirds of 2,100 respondents within the Caribbean Twitter community disagreed with the notion of facilitating conventional diaspora voting. While this poll is not scientific, it does seem to be reflective of a general ill-ease among many with the concept of allowing diaspora voting in the future.

    While voters in the Kevz Politics poll were merely given the response options of yes, no or not sure, the quote retweets indicated at least three major and legitimate concerns persons harbour over such voting. The first is that persons in the diaspora do not have to live with the direct consequences of their vote. Second, there is the fear that the diaspora vote could disproportionately tilt the results of the election given the size of the diaspora community and the marginal nature of many constituencies in regional elections. A third concern is the extent to which those in the diaspora could make an informed choice at the ballot box if they are not living in their homeland. These are all concerns worthy of discussion and should be given careful and fulsome consideration as part of this on-going discourse.

    On the first concern, non-resident citizens are obviously not as directly impacted by home Government policies as residents. However, those who spend part of the year in their homeland, own property, pay taxes, invest, own bank accounts, send remittances to family members, for example, are in fact, to varying extents, impacted by policies implemented by governments back home. The diaspora community might also be more inclined to invest and otherwise contribute to their homeland theoretically if they have some say in the democratic process.

    The second concern highlights the fear that the democratic will of the people could be negated by the diaspora vote skewing the election. Given the small size of Caribbean national populations, ranging from less than 50,000 in St. Kitts & Nevis to 2,800,000 in Jamaica, this is a legitimate concern that must be addressed, especially in those countries with Citizenship by Investment programmes. With an increasing number of Caribbean countries seeing an increase in voter apathy, a trend which has intensified since the pandemic, a higher-than-average turnout among the non-resident population in an election with depressed resident population turnout could be highly consequential. In some past Caribbean elections, it has been alleged that diasporic participation was bolstered by key societal stakeholder assistance, making it easier for persons abroad to come back home to vote. While not all members of the diaspora would wish to exercise their right to vote in their country of origin, there should be some qualification criteria to determine eligibility. Qualification criteria should be based on careful research and consultation as such policy should be balanced – adequately considering concerns raised by citizens domestically and abroad.

    The third relates to whether the diaspora community comprises adequately informed potential voters. Perhaps to some, many persons in the diaspora – particularly those who left many moons ago –  may have political viewpoints which may not exactly align with the current realities of their homeland. Conversely, there are just as many in the diaspora community, especially those of the first generation, who maintain an active interest in the domestic affairs of their home countries. These dynamics can also be seen domestically where citizens may have varying degrees of engagement in the current affairs of the day. Nevertheless, this reason, by itself, should not preclude the diaspora from being eligible to vote.

    Evidence-based decision-making needed

    In conclusion, we hope that this issue will not be swept under the rug but will be given full ventilation. Debate should be focused not merely on knee-jerk reactions, but informed and considered discussion of the pros and cons. As the world becomes more interconnected, the concept of active citizenship continues to be redefined, whether the Caribbean likes it or not. If Caribbean countries agree that the diaspora should be enfranchised, there is need to fulsomely discuss the eligibility criteria, how this voting could be facilitated and how it could be most effectively managed to ensure that those at home are not de facto disenfranchised. Many factors, including the potential administrative challenges, must be considered to reduce the likelihood of voter fraud. If Caribbean countries decide to expand diaspora voting, we suggest looking at extant diaspora voting models in other countries and determining whether any provide useful best practices which could inform our own solutions tailored to our unique circumstances. An education and sensitization campaign around diaspora voting will be necessary not just for the diaspora but those living at home. By no means do we suggest that this is an easy issue.  Elections have consequences – if we are serious about a sustainable and inclusive model of development that includes greater cooperation with the diaspora, it is one we must tackle head-on sooner rather than later.

    Alicia Nicholls, B.Sc., M.Sc., LL.B. is an international trade consultant and founder of CaribbeanTradeLaw.com. Kevon Edey, B.Sc., M.Sc. is a political communications analyst and founder and director of KevzPolitics.