IT was expected and hoped that after the last national election, there would be greater cooperation and communication between government’s officialdom and private sector trade associations, in the interest of resuscitating the forward movement of manufacturing, exporting and general commerce, to increase the country’s revenue. Alas! Not since the first introductory meetings with the incoming officials, during which there were meaningful talks on how to proceed in the future, has regular contact been possible to start working together to improve the state of our ailing economy.

Regrettably, interaction with the ministries responsible for trade has been sparse, exacerbated by major distracting events, including the Olympic Games, the 50th Anniversary of Jamaica’s Independence and disruptive weather. It is high time that dialogue be resumed to explore growth strategies for the coming new year. So far, calls to the ministers involved with trade have been unsuccessful in obtaining a meeting.

There is a Joint Caricom Working Group comprising the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce, the Jamaica Manufacturers Association and the Jamaica Exporters Association working to level the playing field with Trinidad and Tobago through one of two strategies that involve the dispute regarding the price of Liquefied Natural Gas. Both strategies have been researched and found to be feasible and have been recommended to the Government of Jamaica.

Additionally, the Foreign Trade Advisory Council (FTAC), which initially met the ministers of foreign trade in January 2012, has also been requesting a meeting with the ministers for the same reasons as mentioned above. The last meeting was held at the end of May, and the principal project, namely entry to the Brazilian market, is pending. The FTAC consists of 24 members of export-ready or aspiring export CEOs of companies mobilising for an exploratory visit to Brazil in the new year. Already, a Jamaica/Brazil Chamber of Commerce has been formed that would assist with the planning and execution of the visit led by JAMPRO.

During discussions in Kingston with the minister of industry, investment and commerce, T&T energy ministers agreed to propose a solution to their export-pricing problem within a month of the meeting last July. Apart from a press release by Minister Anthony Hylton following the visit of the Trinidadian ministers, nothing has been heard since. The JMA in the Jamaica Observer of November 30 demanded answers from the ministries, concerning the possibility that Jamaica might abandon its pursuit of an LNG deal with T&T. Such a course of action could establish a dangerous precedent in which other Caricom countries could at will renege on possible future issues of state.

In seeking redress, consideration should be given to the alleged subsidy being provided to the Trinidadian manufacturing sector. Also in an interview with the Trinidadian Business Guardian at the beginning of June 2012, Conrad Enill, energy minister for eight years in the Patrick Manning administration and a member of the Energy Standing Committee, stated that T&T’s LNG resource was inadequate to supply Jamaica. However, T&T’s recent statement concerning their planned construction of a pipeline to Barbados contradicts this statement.

Once verifiable evidence of Trinidad’s subsidised energy costs and discriminatory behaviour has been obtained with the assistance of the Anti-Dumping and Subsidies Commission, and if no compact emerges from consultation with the Trinidadian administration, then the GOJ should consider referring the complaint to one of the three specialised Caricom organisations to facilitate the settlement process including the Regional Competition Commission, a Conciliation Commission, or an Arbitration Commission, before finally, if necessary, applying to the Caribbean Court of Justice.

In the event that this strategy might be distorted by the Jamaica Public Service Company entering the LNG arena, the alternative strategy should be considered as Jamaica’s dire balance of payments, evidenced by the presence of the International Monetary Fund, permits Border Measures. The Understanding on Balance of Payments Provisions of GATT 1994 and Article XVIIIB requires developed and developing countries to prefer in such situations implementation of price-based measures (tariffs), as their impact on the price of imported products is transparent and measurable. This measure is compliant with the WTO legal system that reinforces protection to domestic production, primarily through tariffs that are temporary as long as the BOP problem exists and have to be removed when the problem is corrected. The WTO legal system has further reinforced the basic GATT rule that protection to domestic production should be given primarily through tariffs. That similar measures, which are included in the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, have not been applied by any regional territories before, may be attributed to the extent and severity of the current recession. In any event, it should not be a deterrent to protecting Jamaican producers from continued T&T preference-pricing measures.

Jamaica’s border revenue would benefit from temporary increased tariffs on competing Caricom imports, which would be more expensive due to the added tariff and would provide a temporary boost for local manufacturers. Local distributors of affected items would be urged to resist price increases in the national interest and by the temporary nature of the additional import duties.

The Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas was created to deal with just such controversial issues and should be applied to resolve this perennial problem which has caused such anxiety and injury to Jamaican manufacturers and exporters through the years.