Caribbean & Central America - October 2009 (ISSN 1741-4458)

A two-day meeting reviewing progress on the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME) took place in Barbados on 9-10 October.  The Single Market came into effect in January 2006, and the Single Economy is scheduled for completion in 2015.  As host of the meeting, Prime Minister David Thompson argued that “irregular application" of the CSME provisions across the community was a consequence of “capacity constraint_not disinterest".  He added that the audit of progress found “no opposition to the concept of the CSME and regional integration".

Thompson also argued that the need for the CSME had increased for two reasons: first because of the exigencies of the global financial crisis, and secondly because of the emergence of the G20 as the key group in international economic management.  As he put it: “The region must devise an appropriate response within Caricom and internationally to ensure that our interests are not overlooked."

Secretary-General Edwin Carrington made the same point, asking rhetorically: “Are we ready, willing and able individually to face Europe, United States, Canada, Brazil, India as trading partners? The reality is that an efficient Single Market and Economy is this Community's best hope_Let's stop equivocating and get on with the building of a Community from which our children and their children will benefit and be proud."

Two key contributions to the review meeting came from, on the trade union side, the Caribbean Congress of Labour (CCL), and, on the employers' side, from Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce (CAIC). Both were supportive of the CSME, but their priorities differed.

For the CAIC, its president Carol Evelyn warned about “disenchantment at the slow implementation" of the CSME, and he stressed the urgency of ensuring the free movement of capital and of facilitating foreign direct investment (FDI).  The other key priority for CAIC is the free movement of skilled people.  Evelyn complained: “The private sector is still disheartened that entry into member states is still at the whims and fancies of immigration officers_Entrepreneurs still find it easier to enter a territory under the guise of vacation, despite the introduction of skills certificates."

There are some concerns within the business community that full movement of labour - rather than just skilled labour - will be divisive and may change the demographics of countries in the Eastern Caribbean in particular.  Robert LeHunte of the Caribbean Association of Indigenous Bankers noted: “Life as they know it with those changes will not be the same and people must be aware of that."  For the CCL, however, free movement of labour is the key. 

The CCL's president, Jacqueline Jack, told the meeting that the CCL “is far from pleased" about the lack of progress on the free movement of labour.  She called for free movement without barriers, the removal of work permits, “hassle-free travel", harmonization of labour laws, and provisions for the transfer of social security benefits.  She also bemoaned the lack of CCL representation at trade negotiations, such as those now under way with Canada.

Jack said: “It saddens me that instead of keeping labour as a significant partner, labour is being sidelined.  The Caribbean Congress of Labour no longer has a place at the Conference of Heads of Government Annual Meetings."

• CARICOM MEMBER STATES

[* signifies not member of CSME]
Antigua and Barbuda
*The Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Dominica
Grenada
Guyana
*Haiti
Jamaica
*Montserrat
St Kitts and Nevis
St Lucia
St Vincent and the Grenadines
Suriname
Trinidad and Tobago

• CARICOM ASSOCIATE MEMBERS

*Anguilla
*Bermuda
*British Virgin Islands
*Cayman Islands
*Turks and Caicos Islands