Fairman: CARICOM must practice what it preaches on trade

Dave Fairman, vice-president of Best Dressed Chicken, says the push by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) for greater regional integration will remain difficult unless member states address barriers to the movement of people and goods.

Fairman said the region must move beyond promoting intra-regional trade as a policy goal and take practical steps to make it work.

“I think we need to stick to what we preach. So we preach CARICOM, we preach this intra-regional trade first, even the free movement of people, which we're still not there,” he told delegates on Wednesday at the 20th Caribbean Week of Agriculture conference in Trelawny.

“So, if you can't move people freely, you can imagine products. It's almost impossible,” Fairman added.

He said greater regional trade could allow countries to capitalise on their respective agricultural strengths while strengthening food security.

Fairman acknowledged that locally and regionally produced commodities may sometimes cost more than imports, but said price should not be the only consideration.

“When you get into what I'd call the commodity spaces, like the lettuce and cabbages and all those things, right? Those things are going to be differently priced,” he said.

He urged regional governments to factor food sovereignty and security into trade decisions.

“I think it's very important that we factor that into the equation and not just have different countries choosing what's best for them,” he said.

- Albert Ferguson

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