CSME: Status of Implementation of Main Elements

• Author: UWI-CARICOM Project
• Pages: 61-83

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CSME: Status of Implementation of Main Elements

Two important studies have been conducted to assess the progress of key

elements of implementation of the CSME and to help identify future priority

needs as a basis for a work programme. The Brewster Report1, entitled

“CARICOM Single Market and Economy: Assessment of the Region’s Support

Needs”, was prepared during 2002 and finalised in 2003. It had been preceded

by the Kissoon Report2 finalised in January 2002 and entitled “Implementing

the CARICOM Single Market and Economy: Making It a Lived Reality”

The Brewster Report examined the work deemed necessary for advancing

the CSME. There was a focus particularly on the Region’s interface with the

external environment and on impending negotiations. Four (4) broad

categories of activities were reviewed:

• The institutional and legal framework;

• Intra-regional market access;

• Community sectoral policies;

• The macro-economic framework.

The Kissoon Report examined CSME objectives in the following areas:

• Decision-making, institutional and administrative mechanisms

(Organs, Bodies and Institutions);

• Enforcement, regulatory and supporting institutions (CCJ, CROSQ,

Competition Commission, Regional Accreditation Agency, Regional

Administration for Intellectual Property Rights (IPR));

CSME: STATUS OF

IMPLEMENTATION OF MAIN

ELEMENTS

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62 CSME: Challenges, Benefits, Prospects

• Administrative arrangements, at national and regional levels, for

efficient consultations;

• An Agenda for completing the Treaty Revision process.

The main findings and recommendations of the two Reports are

summarised below. Also, those comments are updated by references to the

work of Professor Norman Girvan published in 2005. The Chapter ends with

a tabular representation of the status of implementation of the CSME.

The Institutional and Legal Framework

The Brewster Report pointed out that there remained a large body of

work to be completed with respect to harmonised laws. The Report estimated

that across the Region this would involve some 400 legal instruments.3(There

was no comprehensive listing of instruments involved in each jurisdiction at

the national level).

The main areas highlighted were: Company Law, Customs Legislation,

Competition Law, Economic Protection, and Anti-dumping. In some cases,

draft model laws had been prepared for review but the exercise was never

completed. The Report suggested the need to look beyond “lack of political

will” to four (4) key reasons for non-completion: 4

• Lack of expertise in the particular subject matter in the supervising

Ministry;

• Delays in provision of legal advice by the Office of the Attorney-

General;

• Inability to grasp the implications of the proposed legislation; and

• Under-resourcing in a legal or other technical area.

In the area of company law, for example, Brewster noted that national

jurisdictions “had gone their own way in legislation”; in others (such as

harmonised customs legislation), the then current draft raised wide concerns

and was not being used except by one country.

The lack of progress was partly due to the imbalance of resources available

to MDCs as compared with LDCs.

Standards

Both reports acknowledge that progress has been made in establishing

standards institutions in the Region, and recognised progress with the