Gopee-Scoon: New trade policy coming

TRADE and Industry Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon says her ministry is currently finalising TT's trade policy from 2019-2023.

She made this disclosure yesterday to graduates of a World Trade Organisation (WTO) policy course for Caribbean members and observers at the University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine.

The course is a collaboration between government, UWI and the WTO. Of the 22 graduates from this course, four were from TT and the rest from 11 other countries. Three came from the Trade and Industry Ministry and the other from the Bureau of Standards. During the eight-week course, which began on June 3, the participants covered several elements of trade practices and polices of the WTO.

Gopee-Scoon said TT's new trade policy reaffirms this country's commitment to the WTO and its various agreements which set the legal framework for multilateral rules, not only on tradtional trade issues but new elements such as micro-, small and medium enterprises, investment facilitation, women and youth in trade.

At TT's fourth trade policy review in Geneva, Switzerland in May, TT was praised by the WTO for its "openness to trade," she said. Gopee-Scoon added that knowledge of the WTO's rules and trade practices are not isolated issues but are the foundation of the ministry's work, and the government is committed to providing the necessary financial, technical and human resources to ensure compliance with all of its WTO commitments.

She told graduates the knowledge and competencies they learned from this course will improve regional capacity and technical expertise in the trade sector to ensure regional trade policies and practices are in compliance with the WTO’s legal framework. The course will continue at UWI's Institute of International Relations (IIR) over the next two years.

Gopee-Scoon said the region must not fail to recognise the key role that technical assistance and capacity-building provided by the WTO play in shaping its countries' trade policies and practices.

TT, in collaboration with its Caricom partners, continues to participate robustly in the discussions taking place at the WTO. This is being done, Gopee-Scoon said, to ensure that greater welfare gains accrue to small, vulnerable economies. She added it was imperative that graduates assess the state of negotiations and implications for the regions to " arrive at clear positions to guide your delegations in Geneva."

WTO deputy director-general Frederick Agah said a well-functioning multilateral trading system does not only require strengthened trading rules which are non-discriminatory and fair. This system also needs its members and observers to understand the opportunities which the rules provide and the capacity to take full advantage of those opportunities. Agah urged the graduates to contribute to the active participation of their governments in the WTO's work.

"This is very critical if we are to contine to update and strengthen the multilateral trade issues."

UWI St Augustine campus principal Prof Brian Copeland said the graduates would contribute to efforts to achieve continued sustainable development in the Caribbean. UWI was honoured to have been selected by the WTO to host this course, he said, and he was confident of further collaboration with the WTO on future initiatives.

Copeland said the integrated approach to sustainable capacity-building taken by the WTO is one which UWI endorses.

IIR director Prof Jessica Byron agreed that through the course, graduates will help to build the trade capacity of the region.