November 20, 2020

The Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) has announced its development of an online registry for suppliers of Caribbean-based services. The move represents an expansion of the agency’s CE-Intelligence Portal and is expected to facilitate trade in the services sector. Referencing the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Caribbean Export said that internationally, in many developing States, services exports rapidly grew between 2005 and 2018 at a rate of 7.6 per cent annually. Additionally, the direct contribution of the sector to exports in developing countries grew from 14 to 17 per cent between 2005 and 2018. The services sector also offers significant opportunities in terms of increased exports which can enhance the competitiveness of the region and stimulate economic development, it said. Caribbean Export said too, that figures from the International Trade Centre (ITC) show that CARIFORUM exports of services amounted to over US$100 million over the period 2014-2018. “Despite the importance of services, many CARIFORUM states are yet to fully explore its potential,” said S H Allyson Francis, services specialist at Caribbean Export. “This is an important and fast-moving sector with services businesses contributing on average approximately 69 per cent of GDP in CARIFORUM States, providing many new opportunities,” she added. “The registry will allow Caribbean Export to have greater knowledge of the actors in the sector for business-to-business linkages and better craft interventions for technical and capacity building in the services sector. Our hope is that the CE Services Registry will serve as a pooled data source for the CARIFORUM Services Sector,” Francis explained. She added that the online platform was a response to the fact that there was previously no central location for people to find services providers in the Caribbean. The CE Services Registry enables those seeking services to easily search and find services providers by location, professional accreditation and industry.  Further, it presents services providers with a suite of useful resources to support them to trade their services across borders with export guides, information on trade laws and trade agreements. “We recognise that the success of the registry relies on the quality of the information and service providers listed.  We are working with our partners to reach those providers in country and once we have a critical mass we will embark on a promotional campaign so that it becomes the ‘go-to’ space to find service providers in the Caribbean,” said Francis. Whilst the CE Services Registry is available for all CARIFORUM based services providers to register, Caribbean Export has initially partnered with the Coalition of Services Providers in Barbados, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines and Trinidad & Tobago. Services providers may visit and register at http://services.ceintelligence.com/ in order to increase recognition and visibility, discover new collaborations or partnership and potentially gain more clients through the sites increased promotion. Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/Caribbean_Export_builds_services_supplier_registry_for_region?profile=1228

The Shipping (Amendment) Act, which is designed to make better provisions for standards and behaviours within the merchant shipping industry nationally and internationally, was passed in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (November 17). Piloting the legislation, Minister of Transport and Mining, Hon. Robert Montague, said the Bill is aimed at making more complete provisions for the living and working conditions, as well as the rights of seafarers, in line with the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006. “This progressive legislation needs no debating in my estimation, as it is a necessity, especially given the realities we are currently facing in light of the presence of the coronavirus,” Mr. Montague said. “This piece of legislation will enable Jamaica – as an active member of the international community – to meet and honour our obligations under the Maritime Convention and give effect to our decision so to do,” he added. The Minister said the Bill introduces new definitions and replaces several existing terms in the Principal Act to reflect the language of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, for example, “seaman” to “seafarer”, and “crew agreement” to “seafarer employment agreement”. Allied to this, Mr. Montague said, is the wider definition of seafarer, adopted to cover any person engaged by or on behalf of the owner of a ship and includes persons employed in the hospitality division of passenger ships. “This is truly important for Jamaica, as there are approximately 10,000 Jamaicans working on cruise ships in the hospitality division that are going to benefit immensely from this provision,” the Minister noted. The framework for the engagement and welfare of seafarers has also been enhanced with the addition of provisions governing collective bargaining agreements and establishes the competent authority for the Act as the Maritime Authority. In addition, the Bill introduces requirements for Jamaican ships of 500 gross tonnage or over to have on board a current Maritime Labour Certificate and a Declaration of Maritime Labour Compliance, demonstrating compliance with the Maritime Labour Convention. “The Act also empowers the Minister to grant exemptions by way of publication in the Gazette of a category of ships from the provisions of the Principal Act dealing with the engagement and welfare of seafarers,” Mr. Montague explained. Additionally, the amendments provide a change in the minimum working age from 16 years to 18 years. “This clause outlines restrictions on the type of work in which a person under the age of 18 years may be employed on board a Jamaican ship. Such person may not be engaged in the engine room (unless under supervision), in night work (unless with the permission of the Authority for a recognised training programme), as a cook or any type of work likely to jeopardise their health or safety,” Mr. Montague said. The Bill speaks to provisions of water for seafarers on board as a free commodity to the seafarers. The legislation further introduces provision addressing a shipowner’s liability for medical care and burial expenses. It also provides that the owner of a Jamaican ship is responsible for the health protection and medical care of all seafarers working on board the ship, and such medical care shall be comparable to that available to workers ashore. “The reforms outlined here are expected to significantly impact workers’ welfare and productivity within the maritime industry nationally and internationally,” Mr. Montague said. For his part, Member of Parliament for Manchester North West, and Opposition Spokesman on Transport, Mikael Phillips, welcomed the legislation. Source: https://jis.gov.jm/legislation-passed-to-improve-standards-in-merchant-shipping-industry/