(Jamaica Gleaner)
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Dr Kenneth Baugh, has expressed concerns about the upcoming free trade agreement to be signed between Canada and CARICOM.
Speaking with Canada's Minister of International Cooperation, Beverley Oda, on Monday in Ottawa, Baugh noted that Jamaica would be inundated with Canadian products as a result of the trade agreement. The deputy prime minister said an impact analysis showed that opening up trade with Canada would be detrimental to Jamaica, unless there was a development component.
"We are small countries and we have to be careful how we enter into free-trade agreements. What would make a big difference is technology transfer," said Baugh. He told Oda that the transfer of technologies from Canada to Jamaica would assist the island in building capacities for processing, marketing, sorting, grading and packaging foods. Read more here.
Showing posts with label CARICOM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CARICOM. Show all posts
Friday, March 27, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Canada Feeling Backlash from EU Trade Deal with CARICOM
(Embassy – Lee Berthiaume)
Canada’s chances of securing a free trade agreement with the Caribbean Community may have been inadvertently damaged by fallout over a similar deal the European Union signed with the 15-nation bloc last year.
Last month, Peter Kent, Canada’s minister of state for the Americas, toured Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago, the latter of which will host April’s Summit of the Americas. Mr. Kent met senior officials from all three countries as well as Organization of American States Secretary-General José Miguel Insulza and the secretary-general of CARICOM, Edwin Carrington.
In a teleconference call from the capital of Trinidad and Tobago on February 18, the minister said he impressed upon all those he met “that the time is right to engage in, at least before the summit, a preliminary round of negotiations on the free trade agreement.”
Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the launch of negotiations in July 2007 during a trip to the region, but they have since stalled, with no formal round of talks actually held. The EU, meanwhile, managed to secure what an Economic Partnership Agreement last year with the CARICOM nations and the Dominican Republic.
That EPA, however, caused a split within CARICOM. Large portions of the private sector felt the Caribbean countries gave away more than they gained, while even some government officials in various member states questioned the deal. Read more here.
Canada’s chances of securing a free trade agreement with the Caribbean Community may have been inadvertently damaged by fallout over a similar deal the European Union signed with the 15-nation bloc last year.
Last month, Peter Kent, Canada’s minister of state for the Americas, toured Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago, the latter of which will host April’s Summit of the Americas. Mr. Kent met senior officials from all three countries as well as Organization of American States Secretary-General José Miguel Insulza and the secretary-general of CARICOM, Edwin Carrington.
In a teleconference call from the capital of Trinidad and Tobago on February 18, the minister said he impressed upon all those he met “that the time is right to engage in, at least before the summit, a preliminary round of negotiations on the free trade agreement.”
Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the launch of negotiations in July 2007 during a trip to the region, but they have since stalled, with no formal round of talks actually held. The EU, meanwhile, managed to secure what an Economic Partnership Agreement last year with the CARICOM nations and the Dominican Republic.
That EPA, however, caused a split within CARICOM. Large portions of the private sector felt the Caribbean countries gave away more than they gained, while even some government officials in various member states questioned the deal. Read more here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
