FIVE YEARS LATER, CARICOM PLEASED WITH PROGRESS OF CSME

Georgetown, February 1- Five years after regional leaders agreed to establish the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Single Market (CSM), the 15-member regional group is saying there have been "significant strides" in establishing a "seamless market" in the Caribbean.

In a statement to mark the occasion, the Guyana-based Caricom Secretariat described the CSM, a major component of the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME), as "the most ambitious initiative undertaken by the Caribbean Community".

The CSME allows for the free movement of skills, goods, services and labour across the region and is regarded by regional leaders as the most effective response to a changing global environment that has led to a loss of preferential markets in Europe.

"The fledgling enterprise has so far made significant strides in fulfilment of the vision of a seamless market space that better positions small vulnerable countries to meet the challenges of the current international environment.

"It has been compartmentalised into the Single Market that began in January 2006, and the Caricom Single Economy, which is targeted to become operational in 2015. Of the 15 Caricom Member States, The Bahamas and Montserrat have not signalled their intention to participate in the CSME," the secretariat added.

Haiti, the only French-speaking Caricom member, is not yet a full member of the CSME, but has benefitted from a temporary trade concession arrangement in December last month under which it will be able to export within the Single Market on a non-reciprocal preferential basis for three years.

Caricom said that the agreement for Haiti, which is emerging from the devastating earthquake that killed an estimated 300,000 people last year and left more than a million others homeless, as well as a cholera outbreak, is a "demonstration of the spirit of unity and community".

The secretariat said that over the five years since the CSM became operational, the free movement of skilled Caricom nationals has moved from five initial categories to 10, including the most recent -omestics.

The 10 categories under which skilled nationals can move without the need for work permits and visas are: university graduates; media workers; artistes; musicians; sports persons; nurses; teachers; artisans; persons who are holders of associate degrees or equivalent; and household domestics who are holders of Caribbean Vocational Qualifications.

The secretariat noted that the number of Skilled National Certificates issued by member states participating in the CSM act as a gauge on the status of the free movement of skills regime.

"Available statistics indicate that so far 9,000 persons received Skilled National Certificates -the instrument that allows eligible categories to move- though not all may have used the certificate.

"The majority of movers are women and the vast majority are university graduates," the Secretariat said, adding that it is anticipated that there will be movement this year on the Contingent Rights, which are granted to a Caricom national, his/her spouse and immediate dependent family members if the principal beneficiary has exercised the right of establishment, provision of services, movement of capital or free movement of skills.

With regard to movement of capital, data is limited but there have been some cross-border capital flows during the five years of the CSM, particularly in the equity markets and for investment in the manufacturing sector.

But Caricom officials note that a steady increase in intra-regional trade had also been recorded between 2006 and 2008 from US$2.2 billion to US$3.2 billion.

However, in 2009, due to a decline in the value of exports from the major trading member state, Trinidad and Tobago, total trade appeared to decline, according to preliminary figures which do not include those for three member states. The preliminary figure put total regional trade in 2009 at US$1.9 billion.

Caricom said that the achievements under the CSM are due in no small measure to a number of regional institutions, such as the Caribbean Court of Justice, the Caricom Development Fund, the Caricom Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality, the Caribbean Agricultural Health Food Safety Agency and the Caricom Competition Commission, established to support the initiative.

The CDF recently authorised approved grants totalling US$90,000 to St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines for trade-related activities which were dislocated after the passage of Hurricane Tomas last October.

"While the CSME has not yet attained the level its framers had envisaged when it was put on the table at Grand Anse, Grenada in 1989, the initiative is working," the Caricom Secretariat said.

It recalled stakeholders at a convention held in Barbados two years ago, acknowledged progress on the CSME, but also recognised that there was need for greater involvement of the private sector and labour. "They conceded that there were national capacity limitations to drive some of the processes critical to the effective functioning of the CSME”.

An audit that formed the basis of discussions at the Convocation identified five basic challenges that were affecting the pace at which the CSME was progressing.

Those areas were surviving the current global economic downturn and emerging from it as a transformed and more resilient Community committed to its original purpose; strengthening the market integration process and stimulating increased cross-border activity, especially in favour of the member states with negative trade balances; increased investment to build up the general infrastructure and for increased production and job creation.

It also identified the need to mobilise adequate resources for implementing effective community sectoral and other programmes to sustain the supply of skills and for export expansion and reaching agreement on mobilising adequate resources and execution of a scheduled plan of action for implementation of the macroeconomic and other measures to establish the single economic space.

"The community is moving to address these and other challenges such as in the areas of the provision of adequate transportation services for goods and persons; in addressing regional concerns about crime, drugs and energy prices; financial and capacity constraints; and matters of governance.

"However this year, we look forward to the continued gradual reduction of the number of challenges that hinder the maturity and effectiveness of the Caricom Single Market and Economy," the secretariat added.

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