By
Ross Sheil,
Staff Reporter
Jamaica
Gleanner
Kingston
Petroleumworld.com
03 05 06
A NEW Portia
Simpson Miller-led government will find itself in a make-or-break
period of negotiations for several international trade agreements.
April 30
is the deadline for the stalled World Trade Organisation (WTO)
development round negotiations which began four years ago. According
to execu-tive director of the CARICOM regional negotiating machinery
(RNM), Dr. Richard Bernal, such a completion schedule would
be the most optimistic scenario following the four years of
negotiation that have already passed.
Speaking
to local business people in Montego Bay earlier this month,
Mrs. Simpson Miller indicated that development would be central
to her foreign policy considerations.
Acknowledging
the threats and opportunities of globalisation, she promised
that a government lead by her would "ensure that our trade
and foreign policies address Jamaica's development needs, in
particular the entrepreneurial needs of communities."
AGREEMENTS
ON THE TABLE
Former foreign
minister and adviser to Mrs. Simpson Miller, Ambassador Anthony
Hylton, declined to elaborate further on her position, instead
referring to the speech quoted above. Asked whether he would
resume his old post if asked to replace incumbent K.D. Knight,
he replied only that "I am a servant and whatever the Prime
Minister asks me to do I will be able to do it."
Dr. Bernal
told The Gleaner that the change of Prime Minister should not
unduly affect the negotiation process.
"The
(CARICOM) prime ministers collectively decide on the mandate
for the region and they don't get into the day-to-day negotiations.
They give the instructions and they get the final product, but
in terms of actual involvement it is the negotiators and to
a lesser extent the trade ministers."
Also on
the negotiating table, added Dr. Bernal, are the Economic Partnership
Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU) and several bilateral
agreements. He said that a cost benefit study by the RNM on
one such agreement between CARICOM and the United States should
be completed within two months.
Another
bilateral agreement, this time with Canada, has ironically been
affected by a change in that country's government, with the
RNM waiting to hear whether the Canadian position remains the
same. CARICOM has also to decide whether to update its existing
agreement with Venezuela. Another, with the Dominican Republic,
is unfinished.
