Minister of Trade and Industry Leslie Miller told delegates at the International Labour Conference held at the Wyndham Resort on Friday that there is growing scepticism and division among countries participating in Free Trade Association of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations on the high ambitions of the proposed trading bloc.
“The prevailing view is that achieving the 2005 deadline for establishing an FTAA is much too ambitious,” he said.
Revealing the United States initiated the case for the ambitious and comprehensive FTAA agreement and has stressed their interest in finalising negotiations by the proposed deadline, he noted that at the upcoming Ministerial Meeting in Miami, Trade ministers would try to arrive at a consensus on the areas of FTAA negotiations that can be realistically met by the 2005 deadline.
The minister continued that The Bahamas supported Caricom’s view that countries should not accept negative impositions imposed upon them. He noted that more adjustment was needed in the scope of FTAA negotiations to accommodate the concerns of all of the 34 countries in order for a successful balanced conclusion by January 2005.
Labour and environmental issues are expected to feature prominently in discussions at the Miami Ministerial Meeting. The minister explained that the United States and Canada are pushing to have these issues incorporated in the proposed FTAA agreement but there is concern particularly by Mexico and MERCUSOR, that labour and environmental issues would be used by developed countries as a means of imposing sanctions on countries that are perceived not to be in compliance.
Caricom has arranged a special meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on Nov. 12 immediately before the Miami Ministerial Meeting to establish Caricom’s position on these issues.
Another issue expected to feature prominently at the Miami Ministerial is the location of the future FTAA headquarters. Among the cities vying for selection to house the headquarters are Miami, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; Puebla, Mexico; Panama City and Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. The selection of the site will be done by a vote among the 34 countries making up the FTAA.
In his luncheon address to the ILO conference last week, Hillary Deveaux, acting executive director of the Securities Commission revealed that as a member of Caricom, The Bahamas supports the selection of Trinidad as the permanent site for FTAA headquarters. With 14 of the 34 voted for selection of the permanent site, Caricom has the largest defined vote bloc.
The Bahamian delegation expected to represent The Bahamas at the Eighth Ministerial meeting in Miami, Florida has been selected but has to be approved by Cabinet before the names are released.
By Martella Matthews, The Nassau Guardian
