JAMAICA'S EXPORTS have been savaged by changes in global trade over the past two decades, a report by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, K.D. Knight, shows.
The trade deficit widened from US$238 million in 1980 to US$2.45 billion in 2002, he said. Minister Knight was addressing the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva on Monday, where a review of Jamaica's trade policy is under way.
GROWTH SLOWED
"Export growth slowed to an average annual rate of 1.1 per cent," during that period, he said. "Jamaica thus joined many developing countries which, for various reasons, including weak supply capability, were unable to take advantage of the purported export opportunities and to benefit from the welfare gains that the Uruguay Round (of trade talks), which was concluded in 1994, was supposed to have brought."
The review of Jamaica's trade policy being undertaken at the WTO this week is intended to determine whether the country is following that organisation's rules, said trade expert Dr. Rosalea Hamilton, chief executive officer of the Institute of Law and Economics. She said the review process is a complex one because of the massive web of rules involved, some of which might contradict the country's national interest.
TRENDS FOR THE PERIOD
The trends for the period since Jamaica's last trade policy review in 1998 shows that the contraction of exports was mainly due to a decline in manufactured exports, Minister Knight said. The decline in this sector was heavily influenced by a fallout in the apparel sector, where exports fell by 91 per cent between 1998 and 2003 as a result of trade rules under the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Jamaica's trade in agricultural commodities has also met with major obstacles. He said, "Members are familiar with the challenges launched in this organisation (the WTO) against sugar and bananas."
