Caribbean Trade Law and Development

Tag: 2016

  • G20 Leaders’ Hangzhou Summit: Trade and Investment Takeaways

    “Our growth, to be strong, must be reinforced by inclusive, robust and sustainable trade and investment growth.”  –G20 Leaders’ Communiqué 2016

    Alicia Nicholls

    Against the backdrop of an uneven global economic recovery, subpar global trade and investment growth, trade disputes and the recently held Brexit referendum vote in the UK, trade and investment were top of mind for world leaders at the just-concluded Eleventh Group of 20 (G20) Summit held on September 4-5, 2016  in Hangzhou, China.

    The G20 is the premier international forum for cooperation on global economic governance and its members account for 86 percent of global GDP and 78 percent of global trade. China currently holds the G20 presidency.

    With the goal of providing political leadership to ensure “inclusive, robust and sustainable trade and investment growth”, G20 leaders endorsed the decisions taken by G20 trade ministers at their Trade Ministers Summit held in Shanghai in July this year. Among the key outcomes of that July meeting were the Terms of Reference of the new G20 Trade and Investment Working Group, the G20 Strategy for Global Trade Growth and the G20 Guiding Principles for Global Investment Policymaking.

    Key Trade and Investment-Related Aspects of the G20 Leaders’ Communiqué

    Below are some of the key trade and investment-related takeaways from the G20 Leaders’ Communiqué:

    • Reiteration of G20 leaders’ recognition that strong growth must be reinforced by “inclusive, robust and sustainable trade and investment growth”;
    • Commitment to strengthening G20 trade and investment cooperation;
    • Commitment to a “rules-based, transparent, non-discriminatory, open and inclusive multilateral trading system” with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) playing a central role;
    • Commitment to continuing the post-Nairobi work. It is instructive that the Doha Round was not mentioned, confirming that the Doha Development Round is effectively dead despite disagreement among WTO members on the round’s future in the communique to the WTO Nairobi Ministerial held December 2015;

    • G20 leaders also reiterated their support for the inclusion of new issues into the WTO negotiating agenda, another area on which WTO members saw strong divergences of opinion in the aftermath of the Nairobi Ministerial. The G20 leaders  noted that “a range of issues may be of common interest and importance to today’s economy, and thus may be legitimate issues for discussions in the WTO, including those addressed in regional trade arrangements (RTAs) and by the B20″;

    • Commitment to ensure their regional agreements and bilaterals complement the multilateral trading system;
    • Commitment to ratify the Trade Facilitation Agreement by the end of 2016;
    • Indicated their support for the importance of the role that WTO-consistent plurilateral trade agreements “with broad participation” can play in complementing global liberalization initiatives and mentioned the Environmental Goods Agreement as an example;
    • Reiteration of their opposition to protectionism on trade and investment “in all forms” and reiterated the commitments to standstill and rollback protectionist measures till the end of 2018 and to support the work of the WTO, UNCTAD and Organisation for Economic Development (OECD) in monitoring protectionism;
    • In recognition of the rising anti-globalisation and anti-trade sentiment in many western countries, G20 leaders “emphasize[d] that the benefits of trade and open markets must be communicated to the wider public more effectively and accompanied by appropriate domestic policies to ensure that benefits are widely distributed”;
    • Endorsed the G20 Strategy for Global Trade Growth, as well as the G20 Guiding Principles for Global Investment Policymaking which “will help foster an open, transparent and conducive global policy environment for investment”. These were decided at the G20 Trade Ministers Meeting held in July;
    • Indicated their support of policies encouraging firms of all sizes (particularly women and youth entrepreneurs, women-led firms and SMEs) to take full advantage of global value chains (GVCs);
    • Although China was not specifically identified, G20 leaders noted that global steel oversupply was a global issue requiring a collective response and increased information-sharing. They called for the formulation of a Global Forum on steel excess capacity to be facilitated by the OECD with the active participation of G20 members and interested OECD members.

    For the tax-related aspects of the communiqué by FRANHENDY Attorneys, please visit  here.

    The full communiqué may be read 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 launches its new World Trade Statistical Review

    Alicia Nicholls

    The World Trade Organisation (WTO) launched its new annual flagship statistical publication, the World Trade Statistical Review yesterday. According to the WTO’s press release, this new report replaces the WTO’s previous annual statistical publication, International Trade Statistics, which was published each October. The new report will be published online in July each year and a printed report will be available from September.

    In his foreword to the report, Director-General of the WTO, Roberto Azevedo notes that “[t]he new structure of the publication allows for more comprehensive information about trade and trade policy developments to be provided, and in a more timely way.”

    In addition to statistical compilations, this current report includes a discussion on trends in global trade over the past 10 years, discussions on merchandise trade and commercial services, global and regional trading patterns. An addition is the detailed analysis of developing countries’ participation in global trade, including Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

    Among its findings are that the value of both global merchandise and commercial services trade are nearly two-times greater in 2015 than in 2005 but declined in 2015 compared to 2014. Although developing country merchandise trade declined in 2015, their commercial services exports saw a robust increase. The report also mentions the increase in the overall stockpile of restrictive measures, including trade remedies, introduced by WTO members in 2015.

    The WTO’s press release may be viewed here.

    The full report may be accessed 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.

  • US President Obama lands in Cuba; US hotel to open in Cuba

    Alicia Nicholls

    According to a CNN news report, United States President Barack Obama landed in Cuba on Sunday. President Obama’s three-day visit to Cuba marks the first time in more than eighty years that a sitting US president has stepped foot on Cuban soil. The US president, who is accompanied by first lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha, was greeted upon arrival by top Cuban officials.

    In related news US hotel chain Starwood has reached an agreement to open the first US hotel in Cuba since the embargo. According to this BBC report, Starwood will renovate and operate three hotels in Havana.

    Rapprochement

    President Obama’s visit is the latest in a series of steps taken by his administration since December 2014 towards normalising relations between the US and Cuba. These steps have involved the progressive removal of some travel and trade restrictions and include:

    • Allowing individual travel by US citizens to Cuba for educational “people to people” purposes, although a general travel ban remains in effect
    • Approval of a ferry service between the US and Cuba
    • Allowing US bank accounts for Cuban nationals
    • Re-opening of US embassy in Havana
    • Lifting of restrictions on export financing
    • Agreement to resume commercial air links between the US and Cuba. Several US airlines have already signed up.

    A full list of the restrictions eased are available in a press release issued by the US Treasury and Commerce Departments.

    However, despite the President’s calls for congress to lift the decades-old embargo, it remains.

    More will be posted as the story develops.

    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.

  • CARICOM Council of Ministers meeting

    Alicia Nicholls

    The CARICOM Community Council of Ministers is currently having its 37th meeting in Georgetown, Guyana.  The Council is the second highest organ of the Community (after the Conference of the Heads of Government) and has primary responsibility for the development of Community strategic planning and coordination in the areas of economic integration, functional cooperation and external relations.

    According to a news report by CARICOM Today, the items on the agenda are the Community Secretariat’s Work Programme and the budget for 2016. They are informed by the Community Strategic Plan 2015-2019 which seeks to reposition CARICOM. The Council, which consists of Ministers responsible for Community affairs or any other Minister designated by Member States, functions as a preparatory body for meetings of Heads of Government. The Council’s work at this session will inform the agenda at the upcoming Twenty-Seventh Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of the Heads of Government in Belize next month.

    In his address to the Council, CARICOM Secretary General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque noted that the reform process was currently moving apace and that a planning, monitoring and evaluating system for the Strategic Plan is being developed with financing from the Caribbean Development Bank. He made reference to the development of a strategic business plan for the CARICOM Secretariat guided by the Change Management Office. Citing the historic Cop21 Paris Agreement, Ambassador LaRocque emphasised that “[CARICOM’s] achievements have been rooted in [its] united actions”and urged the need to carry this approach forward in the region’s efforts to provide a “safe, viable and sustainable Community for all citizens”.

    This view was also reiterated by  the Hon. Wilfred Elrington, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belize and Chairman of the Community Council of Ministers of CARICOM.   Addressing the Council, Chairman Elrington emphasised the importance of building on the successes attained, stressing that the region’s challenges can only be overcome by “resolute collective action”. He noted the need to make governance arrangements more “flexible and dynamic”.

    Chairman Elrington also took the opportunity to encourage all remaining member states which have not yet done so to make CARICOM’s Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) their appellate court. To date Barbados, Belize, Dominica and Guyana are the only member states which have accepted the CCJ as their final court of appeal. He expressed Belize’s pleasure with the “excellent results” it has received from the Court thus far.

    Further information on the 37th Council Meeting may be obtained from CARICOM Today.

    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.