Twenty two years after the Declaration of Grand Anse, and six years after the region committed to the full implementation of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (Caricom), there grows an array of stalled regional integration initiatives. The Caricom experiment seems to be on the brink of failure. Recently, Caricom Secretary General Irwin La Rocque stated that Caricom was "overly ambitious in its implementation of targets." The chamber views this statement with some concern-particularly as it comes from a regional official who is at the helm of the machinery that is responsible for overseeing the execution and implementation of regional plans. Yet it seems clear that setting ambitious deadlines may not be the issue.
The problem is, and has always been, the mechanism for implementation of decisions. At this critical juncture, therefore, with a new secretary general at the helm, we anticipate that strong, clear and decisive leadership will be demonstrated in order to resuscitate the Caricom initiative. Our country leaders cannot continue to only pay lip-service to integration. If Caricom hopes to be more results-oriented, it needs to address what former Caricom chairman Tillman Thomas called: The Implementation Deficit.
Key to perpetuating this deficit, is the lack of legal arrangements to bind member states to comply with their commitments within a particular time frame that will make the 15-member grouping more effective. For instance, some member states who still have an environmental levy, have committed to removing this levy as it goes against the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (RTC), and for the past ten years have been "strongly urged" by the Caricom secretariat to remove the levy. To date, this has not happened. However, the secretariat can do little more than "urge" its members to comply-and so the levy remains, threatening development of intra-regional trade and undermining the significant promise of the treaty. Implementation is also stymied by an apparent lack of transparency, citizen participation and stakeholder engagement in decision-making. In recent times, the region has attempted to alter the treaty provisions relating to the suspension of the common external tariff-but at no point was there an attempt to consult the regional private sector on this decision. The top-down construct of Caricom leads to technocrats and officials taking too long to make decisions, while many region-changing discussions take place behind closed doors.
Revise meeting-centricity
While we understand that some discussions must be held in private, as Ken Gordon stated recently: "...we must adjust the way we communicate." The Caricom secretariat must ensure that all stakeholders are part of the decision-making process, as this is vital to the integration process. A third flaw with the Caricom implementation framework is that it is meeting-centric, but with no systematic approach to organising. However, these meetings often conclude without decisions, since national officials are given little time beforehand to consult with stakeholders and prepare proper national policies. Clearly, there is growing frustration within the Caribbean Community. We tend to agree with former Caricom chairman Thomas that there is a "loss of momentum with regard to the regional implementation agenda." This seems to be a recurring theme year after year-one which is certainly not being addressed in a timely manner. Caricom is too important an initiative to fail, and the chamber calls on its current secretariat to take more decisive action to push forward the Caricom regional agenda. We need a secretariat with a new ethos that is decision-oriented. If we continue down our current path, Caricom and all its promised ambition are doomed to remain unfilled, and wither away.
T&T CHAMBER OF INDUSTRY & COMMERCE