OSWALD BROWN WRITES
WASHINGTON, D.C., January 14, 2019 — A seemingly well-organized group is voicing strong opposition to negotiations The Bahamas is conducting to become a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), a global international organization whose members agree to a prescribed set of rules related to trade between nations that have been “negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world’s trading nations and ratified in their parliaments.”
One of the major problems with the anti-WTO group in The Bahamas is that its members all seem to be woefully ill-informed about the functions of the WTO and the fact that most of the island nations in the Caribbean have been members of WTO for many years, including those Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries with whom The Bahamas shares a similar colonial history as former colonies of Great Britain. For example, Jamaica has been a member of WTO since March 9, 1995; Barbados has been a member since January 1, 1995; and Trinidad and Tobago has been a member since March 1, 1995.
Rather than educate themselves about the significance of membership in this important world organization, many of the naysayers have become followers of manipulative modern-day Pied Pipers who have convinced them that the WTO is wrong for the country.
There is a body of opinion that some of the leaders of last week’s anti-WTO demonstration in downtown Nassau were influenced by the success that Raynard Henfield, leader of the series of “We March” demonstrations prior to the May 10, 2017 general election, had in using his leadership of those demonstrations as a “stepping stone” for political recognition.
He was relatively successful, given the fact that he was appointed to the Senate by Free National Movement (FNM) government after it won the election. Henfield’s credibility, however, has declined considerably among those who participated I those marches who now feel as if they were used; hence, he does not seem to have a future in politics beyond being known as a former Senator.
Whether or not Stone McEwan, one of the leaders of last week’s anti-WTO demonstration, is attempting to use the same “road map” to launch a political career remains to be seen; however, he certainly is acting very much in the same manner Raynard Henfield did during his fire-and-brimstone assault on the then Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) government prior to the last general election.
McEwan was a very popular entertainer in Abaco some years ago when I was Editor of the Freeport News. At the time, he was a prolific writer of Letters to the Editor, and some of his opinions made a great deal of sense; others did not. His nonsensical fearmongering about the WTO fits into the latter category. However, he is a very intelligent and charismatic individual, no doubt as a result of his years as an entertainer, and my major fear is that his campaign against the WTO may gain momentum if his followers do not take the initiative to do some research on what the WTO is all about.
There is a treasure trove of information on the Internet that would debunk all of the ridiculous claims being made by those opposed to the WTO in The Bahamas. For example, consider this bit of information gleaned from the Internet: “All members have joined the system as a result of negotiation and therefore membership means a balance of rights and obligations. They enjoy the privileges that other member-countries give to them and the security that the trading rules provide. In return, they had to make commitments to open their markets and to abide by the rules — those commitments were the result of the membership (or “accession”) negotiations. Countries negotiating membership are WTO observers.”
As of July 29, 2016, there were 164 members of the WTO, so consider this piece of information: “The largest and most comprehensive group is the European Union and its 28 member states. The EU is a customs union with a single external trade policy and tariff. While the member states coordinate their position in Brussels and Geneva, the European Commission alone speaks for the EU at almost all WTO meetings. The EU is a WTO member in its own right as are each of its member states.”
As I noted in a previous article, negotiations for our accession to the WTO are in good hands. Last September the government announced the appointment of Zhivargo Laing, former Minister of State for Finance in the previous FNM government led by Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, to lead The Bahamas’ negotiating team.
Laing is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario, Canada, from where he received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Agro-economics. He subsequently pursued graduate courses at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., concentrating on business administration.
At a press conference last week, Laing provided an update on the current status of the negotiations, during which he noted that the United States has taken the most interest in The Bahamas’ goods and services offer to WTO, adding that seven WTO member countries have asked The Bahamas to set lower tariff rates on certain products, one of them being poultry, according to a the Nassau Guardian.
Laing also released the goods and services offering by the Government, noting that it lays out how much customs duties would be reduced, should The Bahamas join the WTO, while outlining “what aspects of each service industry would be open or closed to trading countries.”
Referring to public concern about the problems that could arise out of The Bahamas’ accession to the WTO, Laing explained that the biggest concern is the impact on government revenue due to the reduction in customs duties. He said the government can find ways to make up such a revenue shortfall, which could be about $40 million, adding that one of the benefits of joining the WTO “could be sustained economic growth.
“There is nothing more important to the prosperity of this country than the growth of this economy,” the Guardian quoted Laing as saying. “It is in that growth that we get job creation, business opportunities, income growth, government revenue and the like.”
It seems to me that detractors who have already concluded that the WTO is not in the best interest of The Bahamas should make an extra effort to attend one of the upcoming town meetings during which Laing will continue to make the case for The Bahamas’ accession to the WTO. Their reluctance to do this would further confirm that there are ulterior motives behind the demonstrations.
