The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Anti-free trade activists have pledged to mobilise and "awaken the Bahamian people" against joining the WTO, with one saying: "Our leaders just don't recognise the danger."

Paul Moss, a leading member of the Bahamians Agitating for a Referendum on Free Trade (BARF) group, told Tribune Business that becoming a full World Trade Organisation (WTO) member would "decimate the private sector" and local entrepreneurs while causing a "further decline" in the quality of life.

In particular, he objected to the appointment of Zhivargo Laing as The Bahamas' chief WTO negotiator, branding the ex-Cabinet minister "a gung ho cheerleader" for joining world trade's global rules enforcer given that it was he who first submitted this nation's application to join back in 2001.

Mr Moss instead argued that the Bahamas needed a "sceptical pragmatist" to head its negotiating team, and questioned assertions by Brent Symonette, minister of financial services, trade and industry and Immigration, that WTO membership would not allow the likes of Wal-Mart and Amazon to establish a physical presence in this nation.

The head of Dominion Management Services, a financial services firm, added that the Bahamas seemed determined to do the opposite of large developed countries, which had always protected their infant industries from foreign rivals via various trade barriers until they were ready to compete.

"My concern is that the Government has its own agenda, but it's agenda is not compatible with the business operations of the country," Mr Moss told Tribune Business. "We know that for WTO to come here it means outsiders participate in industry in this country that Bahamians have yet to fully exploit.

"It seems to me that if you want to grow your economy you have to have protections in place for citizens to advance themselves. That is what industrialised countries did: Protect their own industries.

"We have leaders who are prepared to ignore that stage, and simply want to get to this position where goods come into the country. Their own people can't then develop these goods and they simply become consumers. That does not augur well to advance any economies, and the Bahamas will forever be a third world nation."

Mr Moss said BARF, which was formed in 2004, was set to re-mobilise and stage a series of Town Hall meetings and seminars against becoming a full WTO member, adding: "The Bahamian people didn't vote for this."

"We're going to be holding seminars and Town Meetings to get people to be part of it," he added. "It's rather clear what this Minnis administration is. They have no clear vision of where they want this country to go and the direction to take.

"We're going to do what we can, as we did against CSME (CARICOM Single Market & Economy), and try and awaken the Bahamian people to demand we don't participate."

Mr Laing, during his introduction as the replacement for Raymond Winder as the Bahamas' chief WTO negotiator, promised that the Bahamas would not become a full member if it required a bad deal that produced no net gains for this nation and its economy.

As a two-time Cabinet minister who held responsibility for trade both times, and concluded the Bahamas' talks with the European Union (EU) to join the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), Mr Laing was an obvious choice for the role under an FNM administration.

Mr Moss, though, said Mr Laing's appointment had left him "too shocked to see more of the same". He added: "When I saw Zhivargo Laing's appointment that tells me he's not a negotiator; he's a cheerleader.

"When in negotiations you must have a degree of scepticism about the process. We don't need someone so gung ho that they lack the intangibles we need, marching us on to WTO. We need to get someone pragmatic that'll look at this in a realistic way, rather than a cheerleader for WTO like Zhivargo Laing is."

Mr Moss argued that the Government was "under-estimating what this means for the country", questioning how the Bahamas will prevent the likes of Wal-Mart and Amazon "from coming".

He even suggested that the Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI) may close post-WTO accession, as "there is no way the Bahamas can compete in agriculture".

"I think it's going to decimate the private sector," Mr Moss told Tribune Business, "and exacerbate the economy. You're going to find many people who were business owners and entrepreneurs finding it impossible to compete."

He pointed to the exchange control regime as one disadvantage facing Bahamian businesses, and argued that joining the WTO would result in a loss of sovereignty as global trade rules would take precedence over laws passed by Parliament.

"Our leaders are just not recognising the dangers of this thing," Mr Moss told Tribune Business. "They're going to try and be big boys to stand up with these developed countries.

"These nations have more lawyers than we have people to fight for them. The Bahamas can barely negotiate its way through the EU. It's a foolish notion, and is going to negatively impair and impact the economy and development of this country. We're going to have a further decline in the way we live. There's no next generation here."

Mr Moss argued that Customs duties were a revenue-raising mechanism for the Bahamas, rather than a barrier to trade, an argument that is unlikely to impress the WTO. He argued that replacing lost revenues with VAT would "put the burden" more on the middle class and lower income Bahamians.