(OECS Secretariat, Castries, St. Lucia, Wednesday May 12^th 2011) OECS Members States of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are working towards securing flexibilities they have obtained in the negotiations on agriculture and non agriculture tariff liberalization modalities.  These flexibilities will enable OECS governments to avoid cuts to border taxes including import duties as a result of the current round of multilateral trade negotiations.

Head of the OECS Secretariat’s Technical Mission in Geneva Ricardo James says this is one of the matters discussed at recent talks in Dominica, among OECS Trade Officials on the current round of WTO negotiations: “We have been negotiating for 10 years. A number of achievements have been made that are of particular interest to the OECS Countries. In the area of tariff liberalization for example, a special concession has been granted to Small Vulnerable Economies (SVEs), such as the OECS Member States that will significantly modulate the depth of tariff cuts. In this regard SVE modalities provide significant flexibilities to the OECS Member States in deciding which lines to cut and by how much. The net effect is that Member States would not need to make cuts in to applied tariffs which are the CET (Common External Tariff). So we have a lot of flexibilities and for those modalities we want to preserve them.” 

James adds that flexibilities given to OECS Members States where there are no cuts in border taxes will certainly do well for OECS Economies: “A significant proportion of government revenue at various levels comes from border taxes including import duties. Therefore not having to make cuts in our CET rates as a result of this round will mean that government revenues are being preserved for the time being. Of course this is at the multilateral level which applies to all the members of the WTO.  In this round, based on the modalities on the table, we will not have to see any cuts in our applied rates.  In addition our tariff structure has been informed by the need in a number of areas to provide a certain level of comfort and protection to domestic productive sectors whether in agriculture or manufacturing. Therefore not having to make tariff cuts in certain sensitive areas where we have production and export interests is another key objective for the OECS Member States moving forward.” 

James was speaking with the OECS News Link on the recent meeting of OECS Trade officials in Roseau which updated OECS Member States on all areas of the current round of WTO Doha Development Agenda negotiations. The areas discussed during this activity include: market access for agricultural and industrial goods, trade facilitation, fisheries subsidies, intellectual property rights, and services. The OECS Technical Mission in Geneva reported significant progress for the OECS in most areas of the WTO negotiations, but added that there is some work to be done in areas such as Intellectual Property Rights, Dispute Settlement and the Harmonized Liberalization of Services sectors within the context of the establishment of the OECS Economic Union:“In the services negotiations, we are talking about the identification of sectors that countries are going to further liberalize and the various modes of supply along which  these services will be provided. Each country will have to place an offer on the table regarding the additional services sectors they would want to liberalize and by how much. Once the modalities for tariff liberalization on agriculture and industrial goods are agreed then schedules will be set indicating what tariff lines are to be cut and by how much. In consequence much technical work needs to be done at the national and regional level to indentify which sectors and which modes of supply  the OECS Member States are willing to liberalize.” 

The OECS Secretariat says the recent consultations in Dominica provided a wealth of information to the OECS/WTO Member States having brought them up to speed on the current round of negotiations and the way forward: “In Geneva the OECS Mission continues to effectively represent the interest of Member States working through key negotiating coalitions and blocks such as the African-Caribbean and Pacific Group. Through those key negotiating coalitions and with the very presence of the OECS Mission in Geneva there is tremendous advantage for OECS Member States in effectively advancing their concerns and positions at the WTO level.”-James 

The recent meeting in Roseau of OECS Trade Offcials on WTO negotiations was funded by the Caribbean Integration Support Project (CISP), an initiative under the 9^th European Development Fund (EDF) which also funds  the operation of the OECS Technical Mission in Geneva, and the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Hub & Spokes Programme. 

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