…to separate one-time shipper from regulars President of the Guyana Manufacturers and Services Association (GMSA), Ramesh Dookhoo, says that there is need to grow the trade links with the United States in an active manner, providing a level platform for a country like Guyana.He was addressing the gathering at the GMSA’s business luncheon held on Thursday at Regency Hotel.Dookhoo said that manufacturers are concerned about a number of issues regarding trade and aid with and from the US.He added that outward trade with the USA is on the decrease and according to the Go Invest website it decreased from $24.B to $19.8B between 2003 and 2008.However, he said that according to the Port Authorities in the US, Guyana imported $109,409,621 from the United States through its ports in 2008. That same year its trade exports to the US were $234,793,312.According to Dookhoo, there are some discrepancies in the figures and perhaps some goods are being re-routed after leaving Guyana.He noted that exporting to the USA has become increasingly difficult as first time exporters are faced with increasing security checks on goods and companies that attempt to export to the US.“Perhaps we need to introduce a system of Recognised Economic Exporter whereby the authorities can differentiate between genuine exporters and one time pumpkin, squash or fish exporters who are in the business for the short other items.”Dookhoo challenged US Ambassador to Guyana, John Melvin Jones to, in the future, make it an imperative that all funded research projects pay its due attention to the private sector.“We are told that the current tax study funded by the US, the private sector was not consulted.”According to him, manufacturers are generally uncomfortable with the fact that part of the proposal is to bring the tax rates for commercial and manufacturing entities unified by dropping the commercial rate by a rapid five percent per year.Dookhoo also spoke about Non Tariff Barriers (NTB’s). According to him, NTB’s are trade barriers that restrict imports but are not in the usual form of a tariff.In some forms, he added, they are criticized as a means to evade free trade rules such as those of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the European Union (EU), or the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that restrict the use of tariffs.He stated that some common examples of NTB’s are anti-dumping measures and countervailing duties, which,Cheap Jerseys From China, although they are called “non-tariff” barriers, have the effect of tariffs once they are enacted.“Their use has risen sharply after the WTO rules led to a very significant reduction in tariff use.”Dookhoo noted that some non-tariff trade barriers are expressly permitted in very limited circumstances, when they are deemed necessary to protect health, safety, or sanitation, or to protect diminishing natural resources.“Non-tariff barriers may also be in the form of product standards and technical regulations, which may dictate particular manufacturing guidelines or product specifications. If products do not meet the given requirements, they will face an import ban.”He added that Guyana has to develop standards to be able to cope with NTBs in importing countries and to be able to implement these standards on imports or there will be a growing trade imbalance in the region.“We have a funny set of laws in Guyana where the standards bureau is not, for example, responsible for the enforcement of labelling standards, but the Ministry of Health however cannot enforce the standards due to a lack of capacity, this should be in the ambit of the bureau like it is in other countries.”Dookhoo also said that through the National Competitiveness Strategy they are looking at the introduction of anti-dumping legislation and mergers and acquisition legislation for the protection of shareholders and consumers alike.
