By Linda Hutchinson-Jafar Special Correspondent Thursday, June 4 2009

A decision by Trinidad and Tobago to inspect the processing facilities of a Jamaican patties manufacturer has led to a verbal outburst in Kingston, accusing Port-of- Spain of imposing unfair trading practices and non-tariff barriers against the export of the product.

Inspectors from the Food and Drugs Division of the Ministry of Agriculture are due soon in Jamaica to inspect the processing facility where the patties are made to ensure they meet local requirements. This, officials said, needs to be done before a licence is issued to the manufacturer for export into Trinidad and Tobago



President of the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers Association, Greig Laughlin said the heart of the dispute has to do with uncooked patties.



“If the patties are coming in cooked, there would be no problem. The problem is that it is uncooked. If it’s cooked, we would not be discussing this, “ he told Newsday Business.



Jamaica has also had a problem with its red Stripe beer entering Belize.



These latest Caribbean Community (CARICOM) trade disputes have triggered a joint statement from the TTMA, the Jamaica Manufacturers Association (JMA) and the Barbados Manufacturers Association (BMA) in calling for trade concerns to be resolved quickly.



“Concerns have been raised in recent times surrounding trade between Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and Jamaica, and the Associations are of the view that all regional trade matters must be dealt with to minimise delays and remove impediments to trade,” according to the statement.



“It is imperative that at this time, given the current global economic downturn, decreasing global demand and increasing extra-regional competition, that Governments of the region work together to remove all non-tariff barriers and unfair trading practices.”



They have also called for a strengthening of agencies which deal with trade issues and ensure that the Regional Competition Commission is operational and that regional standards for goods and services are in place.



Returning from a special caucus of Caricom heads in Port-of-Spain almost two weeks ago, Jamaica prime minister Bruce Golding said he raised concerns over glitches in the single market trade with other Caribbean leaders and expressed the need for other regional territories to be more accommodating trade partners.



“Interestingly, despite the fact that people have been sceptical of the position of this government in Jamaica towards Caricom, there is no country that has done more to observe and to comply with the provisions of the treaties than Jamaica.



“We don’t place any restrictions on Caricom people coming to Jamaica. The Red Carpet treatment has been rolled out. We have a special line at the airport for Caricom internationals,” Golding told the media in Jamaica.



“We have done our part. But we are going to insist that when we send our patties down there (in the region) we don’t want to hear that they are held up on the wharf because people need to come and inspect our processing facilities. We have standards.



“We have standards organisations. We can’t fly over the world to inspect every little packing house everywhere and that is why we have international standards and specification that we adhere to,” said Golding.



He accused countries of raising issues over standards as a smoke screen to thwart trading in order to protect their own markets.



“And we don’t want to find as we have been finding that it is held up on the wharf not because there is so much concern about the standards, that is not the real reason. It is really a means of frustrating trade. And that is not something that we can tolerate,” Golding declared.



He referred to a punitive duty put in on Red Stripe beer by Belize, saying it was meant to protect their own domestic market. “We argue that if we have a single market, we have a single market and these obstacles must not be shown up,” Golding said.



Industry Minister Karl Samuda also criticised the move by Trinidad and Tobago and said the manufacturer who sought to enter the Trinidadian market was blocked and not permitted to get an import licence for the product until a site visit was done.



“If every time we are to enter a market, you have to travel to the source of the product and inspect it, then Bureau of Standards organisations throughout the world would mean nothing.



“So, anybody who believes that on my watch as minister, that I am going to sit idly by and have people impose non tariff barriers and use all sorts of excuses to bar our products entering their market, while their products are free to enter our market, is making a sad mistake,” Samuda declared.



Deputy Prime Minister Dr Kenneth Baugh recently reported that progress is being made to resolve trade concerns affcting Jamaica and its Caricom partners.



Dr. Baugh told Caricom Trade Ministers in Guyana last month that Jamaica has been the largest import market in Caricom, not just because of its relative size but because it always sought to meet the letter and spirit of its Caricom commitments and not place road blocks to the entry of Caricom goods and services into Jamaica.



In 2008, Jamaica imported US$1.68 billion from Caricom while its export figures to the region was a mere US$66 million.



Baugh emphasised that Jamaica cannot continue to maintain such a position in the face of road blocks elsewhere in the region and urged his trading partners to take constructive and decisive measures to correct the problem.



Baugh said that the issues involving trade in beer and spirits with Belize and in animal products with Trinidad and Tobago had been the subject of extensive bilateral and regional consultations at the ministerial meeting.



Regarding relations with Trinidad and Tobago, he said it was agreed to set up steps for technical experts to ensure transparency in the handling of clearances for food imports.



Jamaica also expects a response from Belize advising of the action that they will take to deal with what they said was in breach of the treaty which harms its exporters. He said he wanted the problem resolved ahead of the meeting of the Heads of Government in July.



In moving forward, Baugh called for the proposal to establish the Caribbean Health and Food Safety Organisation to be brought forward for urgent review and determination.



At the COTED meeting in November 2008, Jamaica made it clear that it would be willing to use the dispute settlement mechanism under the Caricom Treaty to address the matters which constitute a breach of the treaty.