BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – NEWS of a possible partial scope trade agreement between the Federation and Brazil has prompted much anxiety in the private sector, as a number of manufacturers are hoping to benefit significantly from preferential access to the large South-American market.
A bid to accede to the Guyana-Brazil Partial Scope Agreement was presented by the Federation during last Thursday’s (May 14) Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) and was given approval by the regional body. This has been the long-awaited green light to begin negotiations with Brazil for not only allowing the nation preferential access to its market, but also giving the South American country market access for a limited number of items to be traded to St. Kitts-Nevis free of duty.
According to Director of the Manufacturers’ Division of the St. Kitts-Nevis Chamber of Industry and Commerce (CIC) Carol Evelyn, manufacturers are looking forward to favourable negotiations as he viewed a partial scope trade agreement with Brazil as “a new and exciting opportunity”. He made it clear that approval from COTED would not necessarily grant a positive outcome from the trade negotiators, but informed that members of the private sector are “very hopeful”.
“Now that COTED has given us the approval, we need to discuss with the trade negotiators in Brazil to finalise the details. But, although we got a ‘yes’ from COTED, we are not sure how the negotiations would take shape,” Evelyn told SKNVibes.
The CIC Representative said that if negotiations are favourable, the nation would be able to export electronics to the Brazilian market and added that Brazil may show interest in exporting hardware, meats and poultry to St. Kitts-Nevis free of duty. He informed that both systems of trade would benefit the nation at a time when manufacturers have been struggling to stay afloat during challenging economic times.
“If we do have access to the Brazilian market, in order to be competitive, we have to be exempted from some duties, so we know this partial scope trade agreement would allow us to enter their market duty-free.
“Also, if Brazil can export with partial duties to us [St. Kitts-Nevis], then this will drive costs of such items down in supermarkets while at the same time, employment opportunities may increase as a result of increase in demand,” he noted.
Evelyn said the main manufacturers that have shown interest are Kajola Kristada Ltd. and Harowe Servo Controls Ltd., but opined that numbers of manufacturers may increase as details become more concrete.
He indicated that representatives from the manufacturing sector are expected to visit Brazil within the next three months to commence negotiations.
