Elizabeth Morgan | 58th CARICOM COTED – still waiting to be surprised

When this article is published, the 58th regular session of the CARICOM Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) in Georgetown, Guyana, will be in its second day. It will be chaired by Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Paula Gopee-Scoon. Jamaica’s delegation should be led by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith.

As customary, it is very difficult to know what is actually on the COTED agenda and we can also expect that there will not be an outcome document. It is even more difficult these days to glean information on CARICOM activities as the website has not been functioning properly since there was a cyber-breach in 2023.

A news report out of Trinidad and Tobago gives an indication of some of the items which will be on the agenda. One could actually guess at some of these items, as they have been on the agenda as standing items – Trade in Goods, CSME implementation, and External Trade Matters. Related to goods will be reporting on the comprehensive review of the tariff regime and the rules of origin for goods. Under CSME will be discussions on the free movement of people within the region. Under external matters, COTED will also address the ongoing negotiations to expand CARICOM’s trade agreement with Colombia; consider revitalising the joint institutions under trade agreements including with Cuba, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic, and on UNCTAD’s Strategy for Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

CSME – FREE MOVEMENT

During and immediately after the COVID pandemic, with the slogan “building back better” and talk of building resilience, the call was to accelerate CSME implementation recognising the importance of regional integration. I would have expected to hear far more about progress in CSME implementation. You will recall that the Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on CSME is chaired by Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados. She seemed determined to motivate the group to act. At this point, it is not clear what real progress has been made in the last three to four years.

The big announcement being awaited was on free movement of the people of the region which was expected to be implemented on March 31. This, it seems, is still a work in progress. The Bahamas, as expected, has made it clear that this does not apply to them. Antigua and Barbuda, as expected, has announced that they will be observing the status quo as currently established in the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. Haiti is not expected to participate. Jamaica seems to be in favour of this ‘unlimited’ free movement, in principle, from what is in the media.

So, work continues on this proposal from CARICOM Heads in 2023 to implement free movement for all CARICOM nationals. Evidently, at this point, it will not be for “all CARICOM nationals’’. It is assumed that the COTED Ministers will receive a status report and a decision will be taken that will enable something to be presented to the Heads at their 47th Conference in Grenada in July.

BILATERAL TRADE AGREEMENTS/NEGOTIATIONS

Although the ministers will be looking at resuming the joint institutions under these trade agreements, I am not clear that much is happening under them. They were mainly being used by Trinidad and Tobago. It would be interesting to see a current report on the level of utilisation of these agreements across the region and particularly by Jamaica.

UNCTAD SIDS Strategy

In November 2023, the UNCTAD Secretary General, Rebeca Grynspan, had announced that the organisation would be launching a dedicated framework and platform to deliver technical assistance and capacity-building to Small Island Developing States (SIDS), including those of CARICOM. This resulted from collaboration between CARICOM member states and other SIDS in collaboration with the UNCTAD Secretariat.

This framework and the accompanying SIDS Trust Fund are outcomes of the 15th UNCTAD Conference hosted by Barbados in 2021. It was reflected in the outcome document, the Bridgetown Covenant, that UNCTAD should increase support for SIDS. This is an important item for CARICOM as Antigua and Barbuda will be hosting the 4th International Conference on SIDS, May 27-30.

Agriculture and Transportation

This regular COTED will not consider two major issues for CARICOM which are addressed in separate COTED meetings. These are agriculture and the 25 by 2025 initiative to reduce the region’s food import bill, and transportation.

On transportation, at the Travel Expo at The Pegasus Hotel recently, Caribbean Airlines informed that they now had more flights going into the Eastern Caribbean to fill the gap left by the scaling-down of LIAT. It seems that LIAT formally ceased operations in January. Antigua and Barbuda would like to revive the airline to ensure connectivity within the sub-region.

A new private sector-led ferry service was launched in the southern Caribbean in January to improve connectivity and the trade in goods.

Reliable, efficient, and less expensive transportation is very important in promoting regional integration. This is a problem that the region is yet to solve effectively.

So, as we await outcome of this COTED, we are hoping to be surprised by reports of actual major achievements, particularly in CSME implementation.

Submitted by Elizabeth Morgan, specialist in international trade policy and international politics. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com