But Trade and Industry Minister Leslie Miller joined a panelist of Caribbean nations that said major adjustments must be made to the proposed treaty for smaller nations to join the agreement.
Minister Miller led a delegation of about 30 people from different disciplines in The Bahamas including the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and trade union organizations to Miami to attend a seminar on FTAA over the weekend.
Luis Lauredo, executive director of the FTAA Ministerial Group, reportedly issued the specific warning.
But Minister Miller said he believed that most regional countries took exception to that position and suggested that if it continued, FTAA could meet the same deadlock as WTO officials experienced in Mexico just over a week ago.
“I think that the view is, in fact, if persons such as he continue with the dialogue that they come with which is this dictatorial type of attitude, they may be on the train by themselves,” he said.
Recently, countries in the region have been expressing more concern about FTAA and reevaluating the benefits they would get from it.
Their wariness could delay the proposed 2005 date for the agreement to come into effect.
At Saturday’s meeting, The Bahamas and other CARICOM nations again highlighted the need for developed countries to grant “special and differential” treatment to developing countries in the region.
“This [treatment] will provide greater flexibility, longer transition periods and much needed technical assistance in meeting commitments in further opening of our markets,” Minister Miller said in his address at the meeting.
He also referred to a commitment by U.S. President George W. Bush to provide $140 million in technical assistance funding to countries participating in the FTAA negotiations for capacity building.
“We trust that the funds allocated to The Bahamas will flow in short order, thereby enabling us to sensitize our people to the full parameters of this concept called FTAA”, he said.
Latin American countries, including Brazil, have also expressed pessimism about the FTAA.
Many political analysts say that if Brazil does not sign the FTAA, there will be no agreement.
One of the key issues raised at the weekend meeting was customs duties on imports, which the FTAA seeks to eliminate.
Permanent Secretary in the ministry responsible for Foreign Trade of Barbados, Samuel Chandler, reportedly said, “Some of our countries depend on customs duties for up to 90 percent of their revenues.”
He added that any FTAA must ensure that these small fragile economies of the Caribbean are not seriously damaged by trade liberalization.
The Bahamas has reportedly been seeking assistance from the international community as it prepares to make the transition from a customs duty system to a value added taxation system.
Minister Miller said that the feeling is that if the small countries in the region do not see any tangible benefits by joining FTAA under its present form, they won’t go along with the programme.
“The Bahamas won’t sign on to any trade agreement that is not in the best interest of the Bahamas and its people…why would we?”
In his address on Saturday, Minister Miller also pointed out that free and open trade in goods and services has always existed between The Bahamas and the United States.
“It is estimated that during 2002, the Bahamas trade with Florida exceeded $1.5 billion on all imports to The Bahamas and less than $20 million on exports from The Bahamas to Florida,” he said.
The meeting on Saturday was a prelude to the FTAA ministerial meeting, which is also set to be held in Miami in November.
The 34 countries in the hemisphere hope to advance the agreement, which would affect close to 800 million people.
By Julian Reid, The Nassau Guardian
