Caribbean Trade Law and Development

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  • BCCI/KNCCI Virtual Dialogue Series 1: Demystifying the Barbadian and Kenyan Markets

    BCCI/KNCCI Virtual Dialogue Series 1: Demystifying the Barbadian and Kenyan Markets

    I am pleased to be facilitating this upcoming panel at the first session of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) and Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) Virtual Dialogue Series carded for Tuesday, March 21st at 8:30-10:00 am (Atlantic Standard Time).

    This first session will be on Demystifying the Barbados and Kenya markets and features an all-star panel. If you’re an exporter, investor, businessperson, or are just generally interested in Africa-Caribbean trade, please register here:
    https://lnkd.in/eefaiPQx

    See the flyer for further details!

  • Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas to be amended to regulate M&A activity in CSME

    Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas to be amended to regulate M&A activity in CSME

    Photo credit: CARICOM Secretariat

    Alicia Nicholls

    Competition policy within the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), particularly the need for merger control regulation, was one of the major items discussed at the recently held Forty-Fourth Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in the Bahamas last week (February 15-17, 2023).

    The lengthy communique issued from the meeting revealed a packed agenda. Of interest to this author, of course, were the components dealing with continuing the consolidation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), especially because July this year will mark the regional grouping’s fiftieth anniversary.

    Heads agreed that the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (RTC) would be amended to provide for the regulation of mergers and acquisitions in the CSME. This would be done on the basis of an approved Community Policy. They agreed that Member States should complete their internal consultations and approval processes on the Draft Policy on Mergers and Acquisitions in the CSME in time for the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) to consider and approve the Policy in April 2023.

    The CARICOM Competition Regime, as elaborated in Chapter 8 of the RTC, presently has three objectives (1) the promotion and maintenance of competition and enhancement of economic efficiency in production, trade and commerce, (2) the prohibition of anti-competitive business conduct which prevents, restricts or distorts competition or which constitutes the abuse of a dominant position in the market; and (3) the promotion of consumer welfare and protection of consumer interests. The Suriname-based CARICOM Competition Commission, along with the national commissions, is therefore a key institution for the functioning of a competitive CSME which is not harmed by anti-competitive conduct by businesses. However, currently, the CARICOM Competition Regime only regulates cross-border anti-competitive business conduct and the abuse of a dominant position. It does not deal with merger control regulation, which is the third aspect of competition policy. The Heads were also updated on the progress towards creating a dual role for the CARICOM Competition Commission (CCC) at the national and regional levels.

    Asides from competition policy, the subject of progress towards completing the Draft Policy on a Regional Capital Market was also discussed. The Heads “called upon the Council for Finance and Planning (COFAP) and the Legal Affairs Committee to take the necessary action to ensure that the infrastructure for the regional capital market is largely in place within eighteen (18) months”.

    They also supported COFAP’s decision to amend the Intra-CARICOM Double Taxation Agreement (ICDTA), through a Protocol on Treaty Shopping and Exchange of Information. Other topics discussed included advancing the CARICOM Agri-food systems agenda, the 50th anniversary celebrations, Afri-Exim Bank, the Bridgetown Initiative, Climate Change and Climate Finance, among others.

    The full communique may be accessed here.

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

  • Rest in peace Ambassador Richard Bernal – Pillar of the Caribbean Trade & Development Community

    Rest in peace Ambassador Richard Bernal – Pillar of the Caribbean Trade & Development Community

    Photo credit: The University of the West Indies

    Alicia Nicholls

    It is with profound sadness that my first blog post for the year 2023 is to express my condolences on the sudden passing of a pillar of the Caribbean trade and development community and a reader of this Blog, the late Ambassador Prof. Richard Bernal. To say that the Caribbean region has lost yet another a giant is an understatement. For me, it still has not completely sunk in.

    Prof. Bernal’s incomparable achievements and contributions, both as an academic and practitioner in the trade and development economics arenas, are lengthy and will be rightfully ventillated in other spaces. Many who follow trade developments would undoubtedly best remember him for his role as a diplomat and trade negotiator, the director general of the then Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM) and the lead negotiator of the CARIFORUM-European Union Economic Partnership Agreement. This was CARIFORUM countries’ first trade agreement with a developed country. Prof. Bernal’s book “Globalisation, Trade and Economic Development: The CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement” is compulsory 101 reading for an understanding of the EPA, the background behind its negotiation and the wider Caribbean economic development problematique. But there is much more to Prof. Bernal’s work than this. Others will no doubt write profusely on the many facets of his accomplished career and life as an economist, diplomat, educator, academic, negotiator over the next few days as we mourn his loss.

    Prof Bernal was both an avid reader and writer. His writings were a quilt of measured, well-researched ideas woven expertly and drawn from his groundings in economics, trade, political economy, development policy and international affairs. At the heart of it all was a central trend, how can the Caribbean escape its current growth and development conundrum? His scholarship has undoubtedly informed, enthused and shaped my interests as a trade policy specialist from the time I was a fresh-faced student doing my Masters in International Trade Policy at The UWI Shridath Ramphal Centre for International Trade Policy & Services well over a decade ago. Even as recently as a few days ago I quoted Prof. Bernal in a journal article I am authoring. I continue to be inspired by and aspire towards his level of academic output. I was even happier when on one of his trips to Barbados, he kindly obliged my humble request to autograph my personal copies of two of his several books. I am an avid follower of his work and own copies of all his books.

    While I did not know Prof. Bernal as well as others, I consider myself honoured to have made his acquaintance and privileged to have eventually met him in person. I have also enjoyed serving with him and many other regional luminaries as fellows in the Caribbean Policy Consortium. I deeply cherish the nuggets of wisdom and encouragement he shared with me in our correspondences.

    His brilliant mind has physically left us. I however take some comfort in the fact that his voluminous publications list spanning books, journal articles, popular pieces and endless interviews, podcasts and webinars remain a rich repository of knowledge for future generations of trade and development practitioners, diplomats, specialists, scholars and students. These works contain his well-researched thinking and musings on key themes pervading the Caribbean development challenge – how do we achieve sustainable economic growth? How can trade assist this? How can we expand US-Caribbean relations for development? How can we make the growing Chinese-Caribbean relationship a mutually beneficial one? How has the Caribbean helped to shape international affairs even as small States?

    I do hope that in recognition of his stellar contribution to the region’s corpus of research and literature on trade, international affairs and development issues, there will be some special library or unit established at The UWI where all his works could be accessed in a central place and/or a lecture series on the topics he held dear to his heart or a scholarship fund for students studying these issues established in his honour. I take this opportunity to express my deepest condolences to the late Ambassador Bernal’s family.

    Walk good, Ambassador.

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

  • Caribbean Trade and Development News Digest – October 15-22, 2022

    Caribbean Trade and Development News Digest – October 15-22, 2022

    Welcome to our Caribbean Trade and Development News Digest covering the week of October 15-22, 2022! 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!

    THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

    This week (October 17-21) was World Trade and Environment week at the WTO. Throughout the week there were 17 interesting sessions on various aspects of the trade and environment nexus organised by WTO member governments, the WTO Secretariat and NGOs. Read more here.

    Coming up this week, Barbados has its fourth trade policy review at the WTO October 25 and 26. Read more here!

    REGIONAL NEWS

    BVI Premier keen on pushing agro-trade in OECS

    BVINews: Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley has expressed that the BVI should strengthen its ties with its partners in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) by participating in agricultural trade, among other things. Read more

    WTO team currently in Dominica to conduct review

    Dominica News Online: A team from the World Trade Organization (WTO) is currently in Dominica to conduct a trade policy review. Read more

    OECS heads of governments commit to more functional participation in the bloc

    Antigua Observer: A number of heads of states pledged their commitment to improving the work of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) when they met this week for the 72nd meeting of the OECS Authority. Read more

    Jamaica and UAE sign double taxation agreement

    CNW: The governments of Jamaica and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have signed an agreement to avoid double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income. Read more

    Jamaica poised to help certify Guyana’s food exports to US

    Demerara Waves: A Jamaican accreditation agency, which operates to United States Food and Drugs Administration (USFDA) standards, is offering to certify Guyana’s laboratories for food exports to that North American country, officials said late Thursday. Read more

    Jamaica Regulations to import and export medical ganja gazetted

    The Gleaner: Jamaica has strengthened its position as a major player in the medical ganja industry by formalising arrangements for the import, export, transit and trans-shipment of the herb to other countries that are also signatories to international drug conventions. Read more

    Six-month export revenues total US$801 million

    The Gleaner: Revenues from total exports amounted to US$801 million during the first half of 2022, between January and June, representing an increase of 2.3 per cent relative to the comparable 2021 period. Read more

    Latin America and Caribbean countries look towards India for trade diversification, experts urge dialogue

    Financial Express: “India-LAC trade nearly doubled over the past decade, reaching $42.5 billion in 2021 and there are over 160 Indian companies present in LAC with investments exceeding $30 billion, said Karin Costa Vazquez, Executive Director of the Center for African, Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Read more

    Agency coming to help Barbadian businesses get money to export

    Barbados Today: The Government of Barbados is working toward establishing an agency that will give manufacturing businesses easier access to financing to expand their operations. Read more

    Guyana, Grenada talk enhanced partnership

    Newsroom: Foreign Secretary of Guyana Robert M. Persaud recently met with Minister for Foreign Affairs, Trade and Export Development of Grenada Joseph Andall to discuss enhanced bilateral cooperation between Guyana and Grenada in several areas. Read more

    Cuba calls U.S. trade embargo a ‘hurricane’ that never ends

    Reuters: Cuba on Wednesday said the decades-old U.S. trade embargo has been causing record financial losses and untold human suffering in recent months, at a time when Cuba was also battling the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and Hurricane Ian. Read more

    INTERNATIONAL NEWS

    ECLAC predicts economic growth will decelerate in LAC next year

    Jamaica Observer: The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) is predicting that economic growth will decelerate in Latin America and the Caribbean next year. Read more

    Rival trade bloc would lead to huge global GDP loss, says WTO boss

    Nikkei: Geopolitical tensions and the COVID-19 pandemic have prompted some governments to veer toward protectionism, but building more diverse supply chains would better serve the cause of global resilience, the chief of the World Trade Organization said in an interview. Read more

    Free trade agreement will boost intra-Africa deals, say 90pc CEOs

    Business Daily Africa: Nine in 10 African chief executives have confidence the actualisation and adoption of the free trade agreement will boost intra-African trade, a new survey shows. Read more

    Trade war tariffs have collapsed US imports of Chinese IT hardware and consumer electronics

    SCMP: Four years into the trade war, China has lost significant US market share in IT hardware and consumer electronics to Mexico and Taiwan, though its exports of low-end semiconductors have not yet been fully replaced, a new study has found. Read more

    Failure to renew key trade measure is hitting US manufacturers hard

    The Hill: As American manufacturers face mounting economic headwinds, an expired U.S. trade measure is inflicting unnecessary damage on our manufacturing sector which plays a critical role in strengthening our nation’s health and national security and historically paves the way in any economic recovery. Read more

    U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum set for November 8, modest outcomes likely

    The Hindu: The U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum (TPF) has been scheduled for November 8 in Washington DC, The Hindu has confirmed. U.S. trade officials are arriving in New Delhi next week to finalise issues for discussion , an Indian government official told The Hindu. Read more

    Three months into the Black Sea Grain Initiative: What’s been achieved — and why it’s important

    UN: Today marks three months since the signing of the Black Sea Grain Initiative – an agreement between Russia and Ukraine brokered by the United Nations and Türkiye to resume vital food exports from Ukrainian ports to the rest of the world amid the ongoing war there. Read more

    Dhaka to seek WTO’s net food importer status

    TBS News: The government has decided to apply to the World Trade Organization (WTO) for the status of a net food-importing developing country (NFIDC), which, commerce ministry officials say, will allow Bangladesh to provide subsidies on agricultural and food exports even after its LDC graduation. 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:

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