BARBADOS FOREIGN MINISTER ON HAITI, TRADE, AND UN

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRIDGETOWN 000637 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE PASS USTR-VLOPEZ;SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/11/2016 TAGS: PREL PINR ETRD EINV EAIR UNSC BR CH CS HA VE, XL SUBJECT: BARBADOS FOREIGN MINISTER ON HAITI, TRADE, AND UN REFORM REF: BRIDGETOWN 628 Classified By: Ambassador Mary Kramer for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: Foreign Minister Dame Billie Miller and members of her staff held a candid question and answer session with Barbados-based Ambassadors, revealing Caribbean views on Haiti, trade, and UN reform. On Haiti, Miller encouraged the U.S. and Brazil to remain engaged, while committing to a greater CARICOM role in rebuilding Haitian civil society. She also promised greater Haitian involvement in CARICOM after President-Elect Rene Preval's inauguration. On trade, Miller said she would push hard for a waiver from the WTO so the U.S. Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) can continue (reftel). Other MFA staff then elucidated Barbadian positions on trade in services, security requirements as a trade barrier, and CARICOM trade agreements with Costa Rica, Cuba, and Venezuela. On UN reform, CARICOM remains divided. Some member states support only India and Brazil for Security Council membership while others support the full G-4 slate, including Germany and Japan. End Summary. ¶2. (U) Following an April 7 breakfast meeting at the Hilton for Barbados-based Ambassadors (reftel),Foreign Minister Dame Billie Miller moved the group to a meeting room and opened the floor to questions. In an open and forthright discussion, she expressed her views on Haiti, trade issues, and UN reform. Also present from the Barbados MFA were Minister of State Kerrie Symmonds, MFA Permanent Secretary (PS) Ambassador Teresa Marshall, MFA Deputy PS Charles Burnett, MFA PS for Trade Samuel Chandler, and an MFA notetaker. In addition to Ambassador Kramer, Ambassadors or High Commissioners representing Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, the UK, and Venezuela attended. Canada was represented by DCM Fred Jacques. -------------- CARICOM Views on Haiti -------------- ¶3. (C) The Brazilian Ambassador began the discussion, asking for CARICOM's position on Haiti. FM Miller responded that Secretary Rice had assured CARICOM Foreign Ministers during SIPDIS their March 21-22 meeting in the Bahamas that the USG is prepared to "stay the course" in Haiti. Miller said the USG position was good news and important to know, adding that now more than ever in Haiti all are needed. The FM believes CARICOM will welcome Haitian President-Elect Rene Preval to their Heads of Government (HOG) meeting in St. Kitts in July, assuming Haitian parliamentary elections go forward as planned so that an inauguration can take place. (Note: Miller did not say whether or not Preval could attend the July HOG meeting if he has not been sworn in by then. End Note.) ¶4. (C) Miller said CARICOM Foreign Ministers plan to take up the Haiti question at their April 24-25 meeting in Grenada. Discussion there will identify areas of assistance, e.g., building civil institutions. Miller remarked that CARICOM has great potential for assisting Haiti and wants very much to be engaged in that country. At the Grenada meeting, Miller plans to push for all CARICOM countries that can assist Haiti to do so now. She pointed out that CARICOM countries such as Barbados that have a strong history of stability, democracy, and rule of law should provide Haiti with technical assistance in improving civil institutitions. Miller characterized current Haitian civil institutions as weak and corrupt, noting that any democracy in Haiti will remain weak and corrupt as well if the institutions do not improve. ¶5. (C) The Foreign Minister said Haiti has remained at the table for CARICOM trade negotiations throughout the post-Aristide period. She reminded the group that Haiti has a population of 8 million people and the rest of CARICOM together has less than 6 million, so all members stand to benefit from trade with this large block of the regional market in the future. Miller said Barbados is eager to welcome Haiti to all the tables of CARICOM. She said Haiti will be categorized as the poorest of the poor in the world of trade and assistance, so the country will need funds available for a number of initiatives; CARICOM cannot afford to help Haiti without financial assistance from the international community. ¶6. (C) Miller noted that the Foreign Minister from Brazil will be at the CARICOM Foreign Ministers' meeting in Grenada to hear how CARICOM will become re-engaged in Haiti. Miller welcomed Brazil's participation and reminded the Brazilian Ambassador that Haiti needs long-term military assistance. Miller warned that Brazil must not "fold the tents after the election" and withdraw troops from Haiti. -------------- WTO Waiver on CBI -------------- ¶7. (C) The Cuban Ambassador expressed interest in CARICOM's various trade partnerships and negotiating arenas, in particular, Partial Scope Agreements (PSA) and the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) with the U.S. Miller responded that the CBI has been around for many years, and was probably meant to be more helpful to Central America, perhaps also to Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, than to the Caribbean. She reminded the group that the Caribbean's trade relationship with the U.S. is more valuable than the region's trade with either India or China. For that reason, CARICOM must have a renewal of CBI, but such a renewal requires a waiver from the WTO. Miller remarked that CARICOM understands the opposition to the waiver from China, India, and Pakistan, but believes an exception for small developing countries must be available. ¶8. (C) Miller observed that the developed countries have had a good 60 years to prepare themselves for free trade and now make the rules. CARICOM countries are simply fighting to save their trading space - hence their fight for the CBI waiver with the WTO. Miller offered to discuss any measure that might appease those opposed to a CBI waiver. (Note: Miller told the Ambassador privately that the Chinese "owe" Barbados for all the favorable deals their state construction company has won - and will continue to win - in Barbados. End Note.) Miller noted that the CARICOM Heads had agreed to move forward with PSAs (including with the U.S.) to benefit Trinidad and Tobago's energy exports. Miller said the U.S. currently does not have PSAs in the region but is fond of PSA-type agreements. -------------- Desired Future for Regional and Global Trade -------------- ¶9. (C) Ambassador Kramer asked FM Miller to share CARICOM's vision of a desired future for regional and global trade. The Foreign Minister responded that for over 300 years Barbados has never openly traded sugar. Her country has always had preferential treatment; sugar has almost always been subsidized. Miller said Barbados has determined that sugar is not the way forward; instead, the service industry represents the most promising future. Though some CARICOM countries have continued to rely on agriculture, she gave the examples of sugar producers in Guyana, Belize, and Suriname, now being undercut by Brazilian competition. ¶10. (C) Miller contrasted the limited negative impact to Barbados from losing sugar preferences with the serious economic hardship visited upon Dominica as a result of the loss of preferential treatment for its banana exports. The least developed of the Eastern Caribbean states is constrained in switching to tourism because Dominica's geography makes the construction of a large-scale airport difficult. Miller also highlighted the vulnerability of the region to hurricane damage, pointing to the overnight destruction of the total GDP of Grenada from Hurricane Ivan in September 2004. The region depends on outside assistance to recover from such economic setbacks. -------------- The Future of Barbados - Trade in Services -------------- ¶11. (C) Miller then deferred to Minister of State in the MFA (specializing in trade issues) Kerrie Symmonds to speak on trade in services. Symmonds put forth trade in services as the way of the future for Barbados. He illustrated how the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME),with its liberalized trade in services, will serve as a sort of proving ground for competition in world markets. Symmonds said service providers (such as accountants) must receive accreditation to compete in the U.S. market; this certification includes accreditation at the federal, state, and local level. He also said the CSME "Competition Commission" will measure how well service providers meet international standards. He quipped that the new CSME structure makes CARICOM members the domestic market: there are no longer separate economies. -------------- Security Requirements a Trade Barrier -------------- ¶12. (C) The PS for Trade, Samuel Chandler, entered the discussion, noting how security regulation and requirements have added cost to both exporters and governments. Miller remarked on all the camera equipment at the port and airport, saying, "These are not one-off expenses, they are recurring expenses, but without them one risks the loss of international access for the port and the airport." Chandler continued to discuss how security requirements have become trade barriers, both for tourists and the private sector. He observed that smaller economies must be more stringent with security because of the potential of total wipeout, using the example of how Avian Influenza could devastate the chicken industry. For this reason, Chandler said governments like Barbados' are careful and take a long time to implement new security measures. The PS also reminded the group that no bilateral agreement of a CARICOM member state is possible without notification of all other members. -------------- --- Status of Costa Rican and Cuban Trade Agreements -------------- --- ¶13. (C) The Costa Rican Ambassador asked the Foreign Minister about the status of CARICOM's trade agreements with Costa Rica and Cuba, recently passed in the Barbados Parliament. PS for Trade Chandler indicated that the two measures affecting Cuba and Costa Rica simply gave legal status in Barbados to certain CARICOM agreements. (Note: Trade agreements negotiated at the CARICOM level must still gain parliamentary approval in each member state to become active. End Note.) These agreements only await the Governor General's signature to be operational - meaning certain Costa Rican and Cuban goods enter Barbados duty-free. Chandler noted that the parties must still work out regulatory procedures such as certain phyto-sanitary standards, and that these regulations, while outside the realm of trade policy agreements, must be observed. -------------- CARICOM - Venezuela Trade -------------- ¶14. (C) The Venezuelan Ambassador asked for an update on her country's request to CARICOM for a full scope agreement. Chandler said CARICOM already exports to Venezuela duty- and tax-free. He said CARICOM recognizes that the Venezuela agreement is asymmetric (providing benefits to CARICOM but none to Venezuela),but noted there is not yet a formal request from the Venezuelan side for the full scope agreement. Chandler noted that Venezuela has serious phyto-sanitary issues as well that could complicate negotiations. -------------- United Nations Reform -------------- ¶15. (C) The Venezuelan Ambassador then asked for Barbados and CARICOM views on UN reform. FM Miller said Barbados and CARICOM support UN reform and believe it is needed but only if it means larger voices for small and developing countries. She then deferred to MFA Deputy PS Charles Burnett, recently returned from New York, where Security Council reform dominated the UN agenda. Burnett explained that CARICOM would support expansion, both permanent and nonpermanent, but that the UNSC expansion must include both the developed and the developing world. ¶16. (C) The Deputy PS reported that the G-4 resolution confronted the issue of four countries seeking UNSC expansion at the permanent level, but said this proposal divided CARICOM. Burnett explained that some CARICOM countries are for Brazilian and Indian membership on the council as developing countries and others support the entire slate, to include Japan and Germany. Then the issue of the veto arose: CARICOM saw the veto issue as leading to two levels of membership - one with veto and one without. He stated that the U.S. held views very strongly and they were clearly and forcefully articulated. Burnett recounted that, at one point, it appeared the G-4 resolution would move forward with support from France and the UK, but the "Asia dynamic" between China and Japan resulted in its collapse. ¶17. (C) The Deputy PS also described the course-changing influence on CARICOM representatives of the African Union (AU) resolution (no permanent member recommendation, no veto),after which the Africans disagreed among themselves. Burnett allowed as how in the later stages of the UN reform discussions, CARICOM envoys just monitored the debate as its members could not agree on a single position. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶18. (C) Such a frank and wide-ranging discussion between the Barbados Government and senior diplomats is extremely rare. The Barbadians normally hold embassies at arm's length, insisting on a rigorous adherence to protocol that stifles open discussion. Barbados and FM Miller in particular are CARICOM leaders in many areas of foreign affairs, and her views on Haiti and trade likely hold true for most CARICOM members. KRAMER