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JMA to AJ Nicholson: 'Step aside, minister'
JMA scolds Nicholson
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
THE Jamaica Manufacturers' Association (JMA) yesterday told Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister AJ Nicholson to step aside or start singing a different tune on the trade dispute between Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.
In a strongly worded reaction to Nicholson's outburst in the Senate on Friday against their criticism of Trinidad and Tobago's trade practices, the JMA said that the minister contradicted earlier statements by Industry, Investment and Commerce Minister Anthony Hylton, promising to take the trade issues as far as the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), if necessary.
"The confusion within the Government is unacceptable. One minister is saying one thing and another minister something else," the JMA said. "What is really the position? Minister Nicholson needs to start singing a different tune, or step aside for someone who is a team player, understands issues and addresses them rather than wishing them away."
The Opposition's spokesman on foreign affairs and foreign trade Dr Christopher Tufton and the president of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica, Christopher Zacca, have also criticised Nicholson's statement, which was made during debate on a motion on Jamaica's growth strategy in the Senate.
Yesterday, in an apparent effort to control the damage resulting from Senator Nicholson's statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade issued a statement.
According to the ministry, there was no intent by Nicholson to downplay the challenges being experienced by Jamaican businesses in the region, as a result of the application of non-tariff barriers and other impediments which have prevented Jamaican goods from entering those markets.
"Neither can there be any doubt that our foreign minister is sensitive to these concerns, as he has been a staunch defender of the interests of the private sector in Jamaica," the release stated.
But the JMA said that it was disturbed by what it described as the "careless" comment made by Nicholson in the Senate that "this thing about quarrelling with Trinidad every day must stop".
"Minister Nicholson has either forgotten which team he is on or blatantly disregards the people he is supposed to represent," the JMA statement said.
"(Jamaican) manufacturers are not picking on Trinidad. There are legitimate issues, which are negatively affecting the competitiveness of the productive sector," the JMA stated.
"When there are breaches or suspected breaches, as a sector and as a country, it is our right to call for an investigation into these matters, to ensure that local products are not being placed at a disadvantage to goods from Trinidad entering Jamaica duty free," the release said.
"When products are repackaged and do not meet the rules origin standards, then we make no apology when we say that this cannot be called manufacturing," it added.
"We are guided by the Treaty of Chaguaramas to ensure that we are competing on a level playing field with our Caricom partners. When the rules are violated, remedial action must be taken. We cannot allow Trinidad, or any Caricom partner, to go unchecked, and we expect the Government to be receptive to the concerns of the manufacturers who want to contribute to Jamaica," the JMA said.
Jamaica recently imposed $184 million in duties, as penalty, on lubricants imported from Trinidad under concessionary Caricom terms, which were suspected to have originated in Venezuela.
In explaining the decision to impose the penalty, Hylton said that Jamaica acted as it is empowered to do under the Treaty of Chaguaramas, after Trinidad and Tobago failed to respond to his request for an explanation over six months.
He said that there were other alleged breaches which his ministry's trade enforcement team was looking at, some of which may eventually end up at the Caribbean Court of Justice.
Hylton said the Government was prepared to act on any evidence available, and invited the private sector to "come forward on those matters on which they have complained".
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz2W0CCXv9k
JMA to AJ Nicholson: 'Step aside, minister'
JMA scolds Nicholson
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
THE Jamaica Manufacturers' Association (JMA) yesterday told Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister AJ Nicholson to step aside or start singing a different tune on the trade dispute between Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.
In a strongly worded reaction to Nicholson's outburst in the Senate on Friday against their criticism of Trinidad and Tobago's trade practices, the JMA said that the minister contradicted earlier statements by Industry, Investment and Commerce Minister Anthony Hylton, promising to take the trade issues as far as the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), if necessary.
"The confusion within the Government is unacceptable. One minister is saying one thing and another minister something else," the JMA said. "What is really the position? Minister Nicholson needs to start singing a different tune, or step aside for someone who is a team player, understands issues and addresses them rather than wishing them away."
The Opposition's spokesman on foreign affairs and foreign trade Dr Christopher Tufton and the president of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica, Christopher Zacca, have also criticised Nicholson's statement, which was made during debate on a motion on Jamaica's growth strategy in the Senate.
Yesterday, in an apparent effort to control the damage resulting from Senator Nicholson's statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade issued a statement.
According to the ministry, there was no intent by Nicholson to downplay the challenges being experienced by Jamaican businesses in the region, as a result of the application of non-tariff barriers and other impediments which have prevented Jamaican goods from entering those markets.
"Neither can there be any doubt that our foreign minister is sensitive to these concerns, as he has been a staunch defender of the interests of the private sector in Jamaica," the release stated.
But the JMA said that it was disturbed by what it described as the "careless" comment made by Nicholson in the Senate that "this thing about quarrelling with Trinidad every day must stop".
"Minister Nicholson has either forgotten which team he is on or blatantly disregards the people he is supposed to represent," the JMA statement said.
"(Jamaican) manufacturers are not picking on Trinidad. There are legitimate issues, which are negatively affecting the competitiveness of the productive sector," the JMA stated.
"When there are breaches or suspected breaches, as a sector and as a country, it is our right to call for an investigation into these matters, to ensure that local products are not being placed at a disadvantage to goods from Trinidad entering Jamaica duty free," the release said.
"When products are repackaged and do not meet the rules origin standards, then we make no apology when we say that this cannot be called manufacturing," it added.
"We are guided by the Treaty of Chaguaramas to ensure that we are competing on a level playing field with our Caricom partners. When the rules are violated, remedial action must be taken. We cannot allow Trinidad, or any Caricom partner, to go unchecked, and we expect the Government to be receptive to the concerns of the manufacturers who want to contribute to Jamaica," the JMA said.
Jamaica recently imposed $184 million in duties, as penalty, on lubricants imported from Trinidad under concessionary Caricom terms, which were suspected to have originated in Venezuela.
In explaining the decision to impose the penalty, Hylton said that Jamaica acted as it is empowered to do under the Treaty of Chaguaramas, after Trinidad and Tobago failed to respond to his request for an explanation over six months.
He said that there were other alleged breaches which his ministry's trade enforcement team was looking at, some of which may eventually end up at the Caribbean Court of Justice.
Hylton said the Government was prepared to act on any evidence available, and invited the private sector to "come forward on those matters on which they have complained".
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz2W0CCXv9k
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