In a telecast address to the nation, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley announced that there will be no more curfew in Barbados.

“Effective Wednesday, July 1st, there will be no further curfew on weekends in Barbados. All curfew restrictions therefore are now being removed.”

The Prime Minister also said that the physical distancing protocol would now be one metre or about the stretch of your hand.

Additional Ease of Restrictions and Protocols

Meanwhile, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Dale Marshall discussed the following amendments that would be in effect from Monday, June 29:

• All daycare centres will be allowed to re-open to full functionality.
• Spectator sports will resume with physical distancing and sanitizing protocols.
• All public and entertainment events can now have a maximum of 500 persons, who will have to adhere to physical distancing protocols and wearing of masks.
• The limit of time on church services has been removed, however, the other protocols will remain in place.
• Baptisms can resume with the wearing of gloves by clergy.
• The status quo will remain until further notice for visitation to district hospitals and senior citizens’ homes, that is one person at a time.

The Attorney General explained that it would be possible to host events in excess of 500 people from Wednesday, July 15 once the COVID-19 Monitoring Unit certifies the arrangements that are put in place by event organisers.

In relation to the extension of the state of emergency until August 30th, Marshall explained the rationale for the extension.

“It allows us to maintain our restrictions in relation to the physical protocols, in relation to the sanitizing. It is the basis on which the COVID-19 Monitoring Unit will work; they will work within the context of a state of emergency caused by the pandemic.”

The Attorney General added that even though there has been no local transmission of COVID-19 for 35 days, it is still important to ensure that protocols of physical distancing and other precautionary measures are still in place.

COVID-19 Monitoring Unit established

Prime Minister Mottley also announces that a COVID-19 Monitoring Unit will be established. The body will implement, monitor and assess public health and social measures with reference to the pandemic.

“We understand that there are those who will have concerns, but at no time will human life become secondary to our economy….  We are not…those people; we don’t do it that way…. Any plan to welcome visitors to our shores again and to allow tourism-based establishments to reopen, must and will put the safety of Barbadians first. I said it too many times, it is non-negotiable.” said Mottley

The primary objectives of the unit include:

• Establishing, reviewing and assessing protocols with respect to the prevention and control strategy for COVID-19.
• Ensuring community awareness of public health preventive measures, including physical distancing, frequent hand washing and respiratory etiquette.
• Identifying community and local networks and engage communities, businesses and religious leaders.
• Conducting risk assessment by workstation or function according to the environment, expected tasks, the possibility of exposure and available resources.

In addition, the unit will also monitor and analyse trends; estimate gaps; propose and enforce corrective actions where needed; and disseminate infection, prevention and control guidance for home and community care providers.

Comprising of officers from the Ministry of Health and Wellness and Ministry of Labour, the 10-member unit would be led by Deputy Chief Environmental Health Officer, Ronald Chapman.

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This week, I am reflecting on the Caribbean’s trade with Europe i.e. the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK). As often said, economic growth and development in Caribbean countries depend on international trade, a subject which generates marginal interest in the public domain. It should be garnering more interest in this time of COVID-19 as a further down-turn in both trade in goods and services (primarily tourism) is projected and the Caribbean needs to grasp opportunities to expand exports.

The EU, including the UK, has been the second-largest trading partner of the Caribbean ACP Forum (CARIFORUM) behind the USA. The trade, as you should know, has been governed since 2008 by the CARIFORUM/EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) which gives preferential market access for trade in goods and services. With the UK leaving the EU, as of January 1, 2021, CARIFORUM/UK trade will be covered by the 2019 CARIFORUM/UK EPA continuing preferential market access.

State of Trade with EU&UK

The CARIFORUM/EU EPA is now in its twelfth year and preparations for the 2nd 5-year review is in progress. This has also had delays due to COVID-19 restrictions. It is now expected that the actual review will be conducted at an EPA Ministerial Council meetings at year’s end.

CARIFORUM Member States, such as Jamaica, used to have a trade surplus with the EU due to exports of alumina, petroleum products, rum, sugar, bananas and other products. Since 2008, the time of the financial crisis coinciding with the provisional application of the EPA, that situation has reversed with the EU now having the surplus. CARIFORUM exports have declined. In 2019, CARIFORUM exported €4.60 billion in goods and imported €7.04 billion, giving the EU a surplus of €2.44 billion. Exports of traditional commodities, such as sugar and bananas into the UK market, declined and the value has not been replaced. The main products into the continental markets include alumina, petroleum products, and rum. Much will depend on the future state of alumina and petroleum production and markets.

Trade in services with the EU is mainly based on tourism. There was a slight drop (1.4%) in European visitors in 2019. There is some trade in financial services and in cultural industries (e.g. musicians, fashion models, designers, etc). Implementing the EPA trade in services provisions have been a concern due to needs assessments, certification, visa requirements, language competence, among other things. The recent EU blacklisting of certain CARIFORUM countries, if not quickly resolved, could negatively impact trade and investment.

CARIFORUM/UK Trade

Specifically on trade with the UK, there is, of course, a large Caribbean diaspora there and traditional links including Commonwealth membership. For a number of CARIFORUM companies, the UK was also the gateway into continental Europe. From my calculations using statistics from the UK National Statistics Office, the value of CARIFORUM exports to the UK in 2019 was surprisingly 11% of total exports to the EU and 9% of total EU imports, smaller than expected, indicating that the UK had ceased to be the principal market in the EU.

The value of CARIFORUM goods exports to the UK have been declining even before 2008. CARIFORUM goods exports to the UK in 2019 were valued at £405 million (€478 million) and imports were £532 million (€628 million) giving the UK a surplus of £127 million (€150 million). The main CARIFORUM exporters were the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Guyana. Currently, the main Caribbean exporter of bananas to the UK are the Dominican Republic and Belize. This market is dominated by Latin America and Africa. For sugar, it seems that the UK is now importing more EU beet sugar and less ACP cane sugar. Price is a major issue. Main CARIFORUM sugar exporters are now the Dominican Republic, Belize, and Guyana.

On Trade in Services (tourism mainly), with Brexit, there was already concern in the Caribbean about the in-flow of UK visitors due to the fluctuating value of the pound sterling.  In 2019, UK visitors declined by 5.6%. Now with COVID-19, it is most likely that the in-flow of visitors will further decline. Main CARIFORUM services exporters to UK have been Jamaica, Barbados, Bahamas, St. Lucia, Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago.

Another concern has to be the status of the UK’s trade negotiations with the EU27, as it would be in CARIFORUM’s interest for the UK to have a free trade agreement with the EU. These negotiations do not appear to be going well and it is possible that they could break down leaving the UK without an agreement.

The postponed UK/Caribbean Forum is now to be rescheduled. This would provide a further opportunity to discuss trade and investment as the UK has already done with Africa.

Promoting trade

In the COVID-19 recovery strategy, hopefully, CARIFORUM governments, private sector organizations and Caribbean-Export will be focusing on how to regain and improve market share for new goods and services in both the EU and UK assuming strong recovery in both.

I note that from the 4^th CARIFORUM/EU Business Forum held in September 2019, the Caribbean Chamber of Commerce in Europe (CCCE) has established in Brussels with the aim of exploring business ventures in both the EU and UK. I am hoping they will be successful.

As of January 1, 2021, the Caribbean will begin a new era of trading with a delinked EU and UK in uncertain times.

Submitted by Elizabeth Morgan, Specialist in International Trade Policy and International Politics

In other news:

World Bank approves funding for a digital Caribbean

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