PSOJ promoting the principle of private enterprise and the market...

TRADE POLICY

Historically, the local private sector has been involved in initiatives addressing the potential vulnerabilities of globalisation. However, as a consequence of major developments in the international and regional trade arena which directly impact our business environment, more active private sector participation is an imperative. The private sector is now required to participate in the negotiations of trade agreements by liaising with government in an effort to preserve the interest of private enterprise with regard to international commerce.

The implementation of the CARICOM Single Market on 1 January 2006 marked the first phase of the Region’s impetus to create a seamless market space and signaled “a new beginning for CARICOM countries as the Region seeks to create a shared market space to secure its survival within the global sphere”. The CARICOM Single Market took effect 01 January 2006 and the government of Jamaica has indicated its intension to work very assiduously with the private sector to ensure that the single market functions properly.

In addition to CARICOM, the Heads of Government of CARICOM in 1996 agreed to give priority to negotiating free trade agreements and has so far stroke CARICOM bilateral Agreements with Cuba, Canada, Costa Rica, Dominica Republic, Columbia and Venezuela. There is also the possibility of the revived talks of the Free Trade America Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations.

The transition from the Lome Conventions to the Cotonou Agreement, which was signed in June 2000 involved more than a change of name. The Cotonou Agreement provides a number of innovative approaches to co-operation, all of which aim to address more effectively the pressing and varying challenges in the development of ACP countries like Jamaica. The Cotonou Agreement puts in place a comprehensive framework for ACP-EU relations, centred on economic development, the reduction and eventual eradication of poverty, and the smooth and gradual integration of ACP states into the global economy. With a view to achieving these objectives, the Cotonou Agreement makes provision for the ACP and EU to engage in WTO compatible trading arrangements. Under the Contonou Agreement, the preferential regime will be maintained until December 2007. In the meantime, the ACP countries and the EC will negotiate Economic Partnerships Agreements (EPAs).

The CARIFORUM (CARICOM and Dominica Republic) and the European Commission EPA takes into account the overall principles and objectives of the Cotonou Agreement. The change in the trade negotiating arena from preferential to reciprocal agreements means that private sector involvement in the process is critical if companies are to exploit the opportunities of new markets that the negotiations offer, however, they must also overcome the inherent threats that are associated with trade liberalization.

The Trade Policy Committee of the PSOJ is chaired by Mr. Earl Jarrett, General Manager of the Jamaica National Building Society and a Vice President of the PSOJ, the Vice-Chair is Ambassador Ellen Bogle of J Wray and Nephew. The PSOJ Trade Policy Committee has the challenge of facilitating a greater understanding of trade issues by its members as well as analyzing and formulating the private sector’s position as it relates to regional and wider international trade. The Committee Membership comprises stakeholders from the private and public sectors as well as the academia. The forum provides a space for reasoned and informed debate which can lead to greater understanding and provides the basis for constructive dialogue.

The goals of the Committee are: