A year of Single Market Ronald Austin is a retired diplomat and a former Guyana Ambassador to the People's Republic of China
CSME
By Ronald Austin
Stabroek News
March 20, 2007
Caribbean thinkers: Professors Kenneth Hall, Nigel Harns and Rex Netteford at the launch of the Caribbean Single Market in Kingston, Jamaica in January 2006.
The enthusiast of Caribbean Integration would be excused if he or she considers the pace at which the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) is being implemented to be less than ideal. Indeed, a study of the Communiqués issued by the 26th and 27th Summit Conferences of the meeting of Heads of State of the Caribbean Community would show that not much major movement was made on this issue. Such pessimism however must be tempered by the understanding that the Caribbean Community is engaged in a very complex undertaking which would not see finality until 2015. The first phase of the CSME is expected to take place between 2008 and 2009. The second phase is scheduled to take place between 2010 and 2015. It is the first phase with which the community is now grappling.
The first phase involves the construction of the Caribbean Single Market (CSM). They are twelve member states which are currently participating in the CSM, six of them (Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and Suriname) are single market ready, whereas the remaining six (Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts, St. Lucia and St. Vincent) were expected to be so by June 2006. It is not difficult to fathom the reason why there is this differential between the two sets of states. The larger Caricom states tend to have an internal consensus on taking steps to intensify their involvement in the Single Market and Community. The smaller territories previously referred to have always approached the integration process with a greater degree of caution, mainly because they have their own sub-integration movement, the OECS, and also because they are interested in dealing with inequalities of the states which comprise the Caribbean Community. Indeed, a regional development fund has been established to cater for this problem but this fund which should stand at US$200M so far has only garnered US$120M.
Another area which is critical to the single market and which seems to be bedeviled by the ghost of the failed West Indian Federation is a free movement of people. The free movement of people was once the bugbear of the earlier attempts of the integration process because the larger and richer territories are under the impression or the misapprehension that they would be the magnet for the unemployed in the smaller and less wealthy territories. And while Caribbean statesmen would not publicly admit it this ghost has not been laid to rest, it certainly seems to haunt their deliberations. To date, free movement in the Caribbean Community is limited to the following categories:
* University Graduates
* Media Workers
* Sports Persons
* Artistes and Musicians
Managerial, Supervisory and Technical Staff of Caricom Nationals moving to provide a service or establish businesses
However, the community has recognised that there must be an expansion and at its Inter-Sessional meeting in February 2006 member states were asked to complete their internal considerations to facilitate a greater number of people who could move freely within the Caribbean Commu-nity.
Whether it is the implementation of different phases of the community or specific issues in respect of the integration process, the key consideration will always be the appropriate mechanism for the Caribbean Community to make its decisions and ideas a reality. The community had been grappling with this problem for some time now and its many communiqués are filled with references to the slow implementation of decisions taken by its leaders. The West Indian Commission which was established in the late 80s and which was headed by Guyana-born Sir Shridath Ramphal recommended the establishment of a Caricom Commission for just this purpose. This recommendation provoked a political response. Clearly some Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community were not comfortable with the idea of decisions taken by the community implemented by an independent body. Instead of a Commission the Heads opted for giving responsibilities to their fellow heads for particular areas of the community's work.
But it became clear to the leaders of the community that the Caribbean integration process was not proceeding at a fast enough pace to cope with the demands of globalisation. In other words too often it was perceived that the community was operating below the level of events. In 2003 therefore the Heads of Government appointed a Prime Ministerial Expert Group on governance to make recommendations on regional governance. One of its main recommendations was the establishment of a Caricom Commission "to exercise fulltime executive responsibility for the implementation of decisions relating to the CSME and any other areas of the integration process." The wheel had come full circle.
The community therefore proceeded to establish a Technical Working Group (TWG) which was headed by Professor Vaughn Lewis and which included Professor Denis Benn and former Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community, Roderick Rainford. The inclusion of these two Caribbean scholars was no accident. Benn is an expert on government and Rainford superintended the affairs of Caribbean Community and has good knowledge on how its decisions could be effectively and speedily implemented. The TWG consulted widely in the various territories and included members of the opposition in such consultations. In Guyana, the opposition made the point, among other things, that whatever decisions are taken to improve the work of the community they had to be placed into the public domain so that there could be full understanding by the peoples of the region. The report of the TWG was endorsed by the 27th Conference of the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community which was held recently in St. Vincent. But unfortunately the need for immediacy was somewhat diminished by the Heads of Government requirement for an interim report to be presented at the next summit in Barbados in July. Nevertheless the acceptance for the need for a Caricom Commission at the highest level of the Caribbean Community is a major step forward and all that is needed now is the required political will to drive the integration process on.
An implementation mechanism is critical to the first phase of the CSME. This step seems to have been taken and the remaining elements of this phase should see greater movement in the implementation of decisions. This is important as this phase will concentrate on the following areas:
* The outline of the Development Vision and the Regional Development Strategy. A report was done on this question by Professor Norman Girvan and it was accepted at the last summit.
* The extension of categories of free movement of labour and the streamlining of existing procedures, including contingent rights.
* Full implementation of free movement of service providers, with streamline procedures.
* Implementation of legal status for the Caricom Charter for Civil Society.
* Establishment and commencement of the Regional Development Fund.
* Approval of the Caricom Investment Regime and Caricom Financial Services Agreement by January 2009.
* Establishment of the Regional Stock Exchange
Also by the end of Phase 1 which is expected to come into being by January 1, 2009 there would have been negotiation and approval of the Protocol on Enhanced Monetary Cooperation; agreement among Central Banks on a common currency; and detailed technical work on the harmonization of taxation regimes and fiscal incentives.