“That means that our system of taxation may still be able to be in place as it is now and I was very happy about that,” he said. “In fact, all of my (Caribbean) colleagues were ecstatic.”
Minister Miller joined Trade Ministers in wrapping up talks in Miami late Thursday, reaching a compromise geared at avoiding a repeat diplomatic disaster of the World Trade Organization (WTO) talks in Cancun, Mexico in September where clashes derailed negotiations.
Government officials and private-sector trade experts have consistently pointed to the need to address the country’s present tax structure and make appropriate changes in light of present-day realities.
Minister Miller said, meanwhile, that FTAA talks are expected to continue cordially.
“All of the delegates arrived at a consensus to move on with negotiations beginning back in Mexico next month, but one of the great things that came out of the meeting is that everyone at the meeting, including the representatives from the United States and Brazil, appreciated the fact that countries such as The Bahamas and, in fact CARICOM as a whole, are deserving of differential and special treatment.”
Meanwhile, during the meeting, the Miami Police Department suggested that the Bahamas close its consulate in the city. Diplomats there took no chances and heeded the caution.
The Bahamas Consulate Office in Miami shut down its offices for the rest of the week.
It’s one of the repercussions of mass protests on Thursday over the down side of free trade and came ahead of the “watered down” agreement endorsed by the 34 trade ministers from this hemisphere.
The Consulate General taking the action “in the interest of safety,” according to the Bahamas Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On Thursday, stubborn protestors, some wearing gas masks and donning bandannas to hide their identities, clashed with riot police who were determined to hold them back.
It was reminiscent of the scene in Seattle, Washington in 1999. Then, demonstrators wanted to draw more attention to the human side of open trade zones, like poverty and the impact on the environment and social justice over the interests of multi-national corporations.
Nothing much has changed. Critics are still apprehensive and distrustful of what the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas could mean.
Groups including labour unions, farmers and environmentalists complain that free trade will take thousands of jobs to other countries, reduce workers’ rights by exploiting cheap labour and drain natural resources.
Minister Miller was right in the middle of it.
He left on Wednesday to attend the Miami FTAA talks, sticking to the same sentiments that he has touted over the last few months: “The Bahamas will not sign on to any agreement that is not in its best interests.”
Minister Miller and his CARICOM counterparts are pushing for special treatment because their small, growing economies are at a particular disadvantage compared to the large, developing nations.
CARICOM Heads of government met ahead of the critical FTAA parley, solidified their position and reaffirmed their campaign for Port Of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago to become the new site for the headquarters of the FTAA.
Early on Thursday, trade negotiators were going over a draft text agreed to on Wednesday that would allow countries to opt out of unpalatable clauses. They eventually agreed to it, leading to an early end for the scheduled two-day talks.
It was referred to as a compromise agreement aimed at keeping the FTAA process alive. But critics turned up their noses at the document, calling it “FTAA Lite.”
The Caribbean chief trade negotiator Dr. Richard Bernal echoed no such sentiment.
“We will still have an FTAA that can boost trade and investment in the hemisphere,” he said. “Lite means no calories. Even if it doesn’t have everything in the agreement, it’s still going to give the hemisphere some calories.”
Dr. Bernal has been to the Bahamas to shed more light on the trade proposal and what it would mean for the region.
Although the target date for the completion of negotiations is January 2005, the draft document pins down only one specific deadline – that of September 30, 2004 to finish up talks on tariff reductions. Other deadlines are not included.
That document which is essentially viewed as a compromise on free trade that would establish minimum commitments to reduce trade barriers but let countries choose how far they want to open
The Bahama Journal
