Be careful with Canada-CARICOM trade deal: Former Bajan PM

Former Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur has cautioned Caribbean Community (CARICOM) governments about any new trade deal, saying any trade and economic agreement reached with Canada must be “better than what we got from Europe”.

The European Union and CARIFORUM - the 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Dominican Republic - signed an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) in October last year aimed at strengthening ties between the two regions.

The EPA removes all tariffs and quotas on Caribbean exports to the EU immediately with the exception of sugar and rice, which will be liberalised over short periods.

The EU has also agreed to open up new markets for Caribbean companies and professionals to offer services in the EU while the Caribbean countries will gradual open up their markets over a 25-year period.

CARICOM will soon begin negotiations with Canada on a new trade pact.

In an address to a constituency meeting of his opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP) Arthur said if the Caribbean is going to negotiate a new relationship with Canada, then it has to be clear, that "any new agreement has to be as good as, or better than, what we got from Europe."

The former prime minister suggested that Canada would not be willing to open up all its markets to the Caribbean.

Arthur said that while it is not necessarily a bad thing to negotiate with Canada, he asked “why are we going to Canada to negotiate without discussing the implications with a society that can be affected as a region?”

He warned that Barbados would need to be careful, since the two economies - Canada and Barbados - are fundamentally linked and that it would be difficult for Bridgetown to successfully negotiate a good accord with Ottawa because of the significant levels of investments.

“Once the recession ends you have to start to phase in a new relationship with Europe and with Canada. So it will not be business as usual. So let us begin to prepare our producers big and small for a more competitive environment that awaits us," he said, adding, "the world has changed."