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Canada trade agreement processes to be reflected in Canada/Caricom negotiations

Jun 10, 2010 News

The first round of the free trade negotiations between Canada and the Caribbean Community has concluded but according to new Canadian Ambassador to Caricom, Francois Montour, explanations have been forthcoming as to what are the processes Canada has put in place for the negotiation of free trade agreements.
He however asserted that the processes are not specific to the Caricom-Canada Trade Agreement but rather to any trade agreement that Canada engages with other territories.
According to him “there has to be discussions and agreements on provisions for the labour environment so that when those trade agreements come to Parliament in Canada to be voted on that the members of parliament and the different committees are satisfied about the enforcement of existing labour laws in the given country or Region.”
Additionally, the Ambassador said that there will be a need to ensure that there are existing policies and law on environment that are implemented in members states. This is especially crucial should any development or economic activity result from the trade agreements so that they will be done in respect of human and labour rights.
“At this point, like the trade agreement itself, there are discussions about the labour and environment provisions…I will not provide all of the details because it is not appropriate at this point as an agreement has not been reached. It is still in the negotiation process,” Montour noted.
So far, the Ambassador said that there has been discussion presentations of the proposed provisions to the parties concerned, a move, which will continue at the next and future rounds of discussions.
And though there is currently no outlined principle, Montour noted that efforts would be made to negotiate the principles of trade agreements as it relates to labour and trade within the ongoing negotiation.
“There will be discussions about a monitoring structure and an evaluation structure, as to the enforcement or not of labour laws and implementation of environmental policies. We have not done evaluation of the situation before so it is something that needs to be agreed on thereafter, once agreed the monitoring will be a consorted effort. Canada will not be coming here with a special unit that will start to look at how the country will implement its own laws…It will be a consorted and cooperative law so it will be done jointly,” Montour asserted.
It was during a media briefing following the first round of discussion that Her Excellency Ambassador Gail Mathurin, Director-General of the Office of Trade Negotiations stated that “CARICOM was strongly advocating that the agreement should make provisions for the varying levels of development among CARICOM countries as expressed in the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas in respect of special treatment of Less Developed Countries.”
In this regard, the OTN Director noted that Canada recognised the need for asymmetry and signalled its willingness to work with the region in the development agreement in a way that was creative and flexible.
Ambassador Mathurin stated that the negotiations were poised to further strengthen long-standing relations between the Community and Canada, which is the Region’s third largest trading partner.
Currently, trade and economic co-operation relations between CARICOM and Canada are covered under a number of instruments, including the 1979 CARICOM-Canada Trade and Economic Co-operation Agreement and its Protocols, including the 1998 Protocol on Rum; CARIBCAN which grants unilateral duty free access to eligible goods from beneficiary countries in the English-speaking Caribbean up to 2011.
Two-way merchandise trade between CARICOM and Canada averaged more than US$700 million over the last ten years with a surplus averaging more than US$60 million in favour of the Region.

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