The government will ultimately decide whether The Bahamas will join the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) or the World Trade Organisation (WTO), once their trading arrangements are thoroughly analyzed and the advantages and disadvantages of membership are clearly known, Mr Miller said Monday.
"The government of The Bahamas is firmly of the view that membership in any trading agreement should be a win-win situation, where there is balance and no trade-off on the sovereign rights of The Bahamas and that the unique interests of The Bahamas are preserved at all times," said Minister Miller, who was speaking at the International Labour Conference on the Free Trade Area of the Americas at the Nassau Marriott Resort and Crystal Palace Casino.
Mr Miller explained to the large grouping of local and foreign delegates that the government recognizes that it is only through ongoing consultations and dialogue with all stake-holders of society, that proactive programmes, strategies and policies will be developed to ensure the full and beneficial participation of The Bahamas in negotiating the various trading arrangements.
Minister Miller said the Christie administration is therefore taking the necessary steps to ensure that civil society is consulted on every aspect of the FTAA and the WTO, in order to develop strategies to ensure the best trade negotiation position for The Bahamas.
No country will sign onto any agreement that is not in the best interest of its people, he said, and it would be foolish for The Bahamas to sign an agreement and thereby allow foreign transnational entities to have the ability to sue the government because of its internal policies that protect its citizens and corporate organizations.
"This will not happen. We will not sign any agreement that will adversely affect the lives of Bahamians," charged Minister Miller, whose comments were followed with a loud burst of applause.
The government has nothing to hide in its negotiating process on whether to join the FTAA or not, and are welcoming all Bahamians to become totally involved in the process, he continued.
"We all must work together to see to it that whatever we have decided to sign onto, that it would be with your knowledge and your consent. If we do not have your consent, we will not sign, even if it means we will have to go alone," he said.
Another issue of major concern, in relation to both WTO and the FTAA, according to Mr Miller, is the movement of "natural persons" or negotiations on individuals rights to stay temporarily in a country, for the purpose of providing a service.
This provision does not apply to people seeking permanent employment, or to conditions for obtaining citizenship, permanent residency or permanent employment, he said.
Mr Miller said further that many Bahamians are concerned about the FTAA, but the negotiating process is far from being finalized, not being even a third completed.
He said that he was certain that the agreement would not be enforced in 2005 as expected, because everyone wants to protect their own interests and in-depth negotiations will be prolonged.
In the meantime, he said, The Bahamas government, in consultation with representatives of civil society, will have to determine what is its interest in terms of safeguarding Bahamian service providers, what will be our minimum immigration policy requirements for foreign service providers, whether skilled, semi-skilled or unskilled and what market access provisions The Bahamas would wish to negotiate for Bahamian service providers to access the markets of other countries.
No country should have to "dismantle its base" for the sake of being a partner in the FTAA, Mr Miller said, as the idea of "free trade" is finding out what is best for ones country.
"Clearly, the trade negotiations process is time-consuming, complex and a costly process, which requires a multi-faceted and dynamic approach to ensure that the depth and breadth of dialogue and consultation required with civil society is carried out throughout the Commonwealth of The Bahamas," he said.
The initiative to establish the FTAA uniting the 34 democratic countries of the Western Hemisphere into a single free trade agreement, began at the Summit of the Americas, held in December, 1994 in Miami, Florida.
The Heads of States of these nations agreed to the progressive elimination of barriers to trade and investment by 2005.
Subsequent summits have built on this initiative, and a series of ministerial meetings have been established to work towards implementing FTAA rules and procedures.
There are also several institutions that provide analytical, technical and financial support to the FTAA process. These include: The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Organization of American States (OAS), the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC), CARICOM, CARIFORUM and the European Commission.
Once the FTAA is ratified, it is expected to become the largest free trade area in history, with an expected combined gross domestic product of over nine trillion dollars and a market of 765 million people.
The Bahamas has been involved in the FTAA process since its inception, and according to Mr Miller, observers have been closely monitoring developments.
By Tamara McKenzie, The Nassau Guardian
