ARGUING that Jamaica’s involvement with Caricom has done more harm than good to the country, Jamaica Manufacturers’ Association (JMA) president Omar Azan has said that Government needs to re-evaluate its membership with the regional umbrella group.

Caricom is a group of 15 Caribbean nations and dependencies, aimed at promoting economic integration and cooperation among member states. However, speaking at the JMA’s Annual Christmas Appreciation Luncheon at the association’s Duke Street offices yesterday in downtown Kingston, Azan said that more negatives than positives have arisen out of Jamaica’s membership with the group since its inception in 1973.

“Sometimes we make decisions based on the possibilities, but what are the realities?” asked Azan.

“In 2008, Jamaica’s trade deficit with Caricom stood at minus US$1.6 billion, need I say more,” he emphasised.

This daunting balance of trade statistic between Jamaica and Caricom members, Azan argued, comes against the background of an uneven playing field on which Jamaica has had to compete within the region for years.

Azan specifically pointed finger at Trinidad and Tobago, reiterating a complaint made by the JMA earlier this year that the twin island republic’s government provides unfair energy subsidies to its manufacturers. According to Azan, Trinidad, which is rich in gas and oil resources, supplies energy to its manufacturers at just over three cents per kilowatt-hour, while in Jamaica, it’s supplied at just over 20 cents per kilowatt-hour, giving Trinidadian manufacturers a huge competitive advantage in trade.

But what’s worse, said Azan, is Trinidad’s reluctance to cooperate in the investigations of the suspected trade breaches.

“To date, our minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade has not been able to prove or disprove (the trade breaches) because of lack of transparency on the part of Trinidad as it relates to its petroleum industry,” revealed Azan. How can Trinidad and Jamaica both be members of Caricom, but we cannot from one government to the next acquire information on their industry?

“We need to ensure that we are competing on a level playing field,” he said.

In addition to re-evaluating its membership with Caricom, Azan said that the JMA is calling for an assessment of all existing trade agreements and their benefits to Jamaica.

He also noted that with increased free-trade agreements and the reduction in tariff barriers, the local manufacturing sector must be strengthened to overcome non-tariff barriers for increased market access, as it concerns international labelling requirements, standards and certification.

“This will serve to reaffirm the quality of products made in Jamaica, making them more acceptable worldwide by our trading partners and less vulnerable to being detained at the ports of entry,” said Azan, adding that “with little insulation from tariffs, we must also ensure that we protect local industry by developing and enforcing standards by monitoring our borders and shelves to prevent dumping and unfair competition.”

These recommendations were part of a broad set of initiatives Azan said were needed to build a stronger manufacturing sector in Jamaica. He also called for the reduction of government bureaucracy; more support to local companies in procuring contracts; an industrial security policy; the improvement of cost and availability of factory space; and an energy policy to drive alternate energy usage in the manufacturing sector.