VZCZCXYZ0010
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHWN #1420/01 3171756
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 131756Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5753

UNCLAS BRIDGETOWN 001420 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
USTR FOR KENT SHIGETOMI 
DEPT. FOR WHA/CAR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD ELAB AMGT XK XL USTR OECS
SUBJECT: BRIDGETOWN SUBMISSION FOR THE OPERATION OF THE CARIBBEAN 
BASIN ECONOMIC RECOVERY ACT REPORT 
 
REF: STATE 143212 
 
1) Summary:  This is Embassy Bridgetown's submission for the 
situation in the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) as a 
whole, and country specific information on the seven countries to 
which we are accredited, namely Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, 
Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent 
and the Grenadines.  Although members of the OECS and part of our 
consular district, Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, and 
Montserrat are not formally part of our reporting responsibilities. 
We did not include them in this report, other than as part of the 
OECS.  End summary 
 
The Organization of Eastern Caribbean States 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
The Organization of Eastern Caribbean States 
Department of Commerce 2004 Trade Statistics 
U.S. Exports $446,243,268 
U.S. Imports $72,987,011 
U.S. Trade Balance $373,256,257 
The OECS comprises the countries of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, 
Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the 
Grenadines, and Montserrat, an overseas territory of the United 
Kingdom.  Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands are associate 
members. 
 
2) Economic Overview: Although several states of the OECS suffered 
crisis or near-crisis financial situations in the late 1990s and 
early 2000s, most have recovered and currently show economic growth. 
Others, including Grenada, which was devastated by Hurricane Ivan in 
2004 and Hurricane Emily in 2005, and Montserrat, which has suffered 
from ongoing eruptions of the Soufriere Hills Volcano, beginning in 
1995, are still struggling.  After years as sugar and banana 
monocultures, OECS members are shifting toward service-based 
economies, built on tourism and financial services, with offshore 
medical, nursing, and veterinary schools and niche agriculture also 
playing important roles.  The United States is gradually becoming the 
principal trading partner and source of tourism revenue for OECS 
members, a role long occupied by the United Kingdom, which was the 
colonial power in much of the region. 
 
3) Commitment to WTO and FTAA:  Although hindered by a lack of 
government resources and technical expertise, the OECS Members (not 
including Montserrat, which is a U.K. overseas territory) have 
demonstrated a commitment to fulfill their WTO obligations on 
schedule.  As members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the OECS 
members have, in coordination with other CARICOM countries, been 
supporters of the FTAA process (Montserrat, which is not a sovereign 
state, cannot participate in the FTAA negotiations.)  The OECS 
members are vocal advocates of special and differential treatment for 
the small-island economies of the Caribbean region.  USAID maintains 
an active technical assistance program in the region to help these 
small nations meet their international trade obligations. 
 
4) Protection of Intellectual Property:  Egregious violations of 
intellectual property rights are few and far between in the OECS. 
Although the OECS members suffer from a lack of resources, they are 
moving toward harmonization of intellectual property (IP) legislation 
and education of the population on the benefits that accrue from the 
establishment of an effective IP regime and are striving to comply 
with international obligations and strengthen protection.  However, 
video, music and DVD piracy remains a problem throughout the region. 
 
5) Provision of Internationally Recognized Worker Rights:  In the 
OECS, workers have the right to associate freely and to form labor 
unions; this right is generally respected. Workers also have the 
right to organize and bargain collectively and there is a prohibition 
on any form of forced or compulsory labor. 
 
6) Commitment to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor:  All the 
OECS countries have ratified ILO Convention 182 (Montserrat is a 
member via the United Kingdom's ratification of the Convention). 
Although there is no evidence to suggest it is a widespread problem, 
there have been some reports of exploitative child labor in the 
region.  There have been reports that children may be involved in 
pornography, prostitution, and the distribution of drugs in a few of 
the OECS members. In addition, reports exist of children involved in 
commercial sexual exploitation in order to pay for basic needs such 
as school fees and food.  On the more agriculturally dependent 
islands, such as Dominica, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent, children 
sometimes work on family banana farms, generally outside of school 
hours.  Child labor is slightly more common in rural areas where some 
older children may work as domestics or in family-owned cottage 
industries.  Because all of the OECS islands have compulsory 
schooling until age fifteen or sixteen, there are few children in the 
labor force. 
 
7) Counter-Narcotics Cooperation:  The President has not identified 
any of the OECS members as a major drug transit or major illicit drug 
 
producing country under the provision of the FRAA. 
 
8) Implementation of the Inter-American Convention Against 
Corruption:  Of the seven OECS members, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, 
and St. Kitts and Nevis have ratified the IACAC; Dominica, St. Lucia, 
and St. Vincent and the Grenadines have acceded to the Convention. 
 
9) Transparency in Government Procurement:  The OECS members' 
government procurement policies are generally quite open and 
transparent, and the Administration is not aware of any 
non-competitive bidding procedures. 
 
Additional Issues 
----------------- 
 
10) Nationalization/Expropriation:  Some U.S. investors have 
outstanding disputes with the governments of Antigua and St. Kitts 
concerning expropriated land.  They are currently attempting to 
resolve those disputes within the local legal systems, and ask for 
occasional advice from the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government has 
stressed to authorities in both countries its interest in seeing the 
disputes resolved. 
 
Antigua and Barbuda 
------------------- 
Population:  82,800 
Per capita GDP in current prices (US Dollars) 10,513 
 
11) Having abandoned its unprofitable sugar industry several years 
ago, Antigua and Barbuda is the most developed of the OECS Members 
and the most dependent on tourism.  The present government, which 
took office in early 2004, has embarked on a reform program, 
including restructuring its massive debt to GDP ratio of 128 percent, 
reintroducing the income tax, and making government more transparent. 
The current administration also plans to cut the public sector 
workforce and has introduced a value added tax (VAT) to reduce 
dependence on tariff revenues and put the country in a better 
position to handle WTO tariff cuts.  Long-term growth prospects 
depend on the continued vibrancy of the tourism and financial 
services sectors, foreign investment in new tourism projects, and 
Antigua's ability to exercise fiscal restraint. 
 
12) In Antigua and Barbuda, workers may not be required to work more 
than a forty-eight hour, six-day workweek.  In practice the standard 
workweek is forty hours in five days.  Workers generally receive 
annual leave and maternity leave.  The minimum working age is 
sixteen.  Although a section of the labor code includes some 
provisions regarding occupational health and safety, the government 
has not developed comprehensive occupational health and safety laws 
or regulations. 
 
Barbados 
-------- 
Population: 280,946 
Per Capita GDP: 13,312 (CDB figures, 2006 in US dollars) 
Trade Statistics 
U.S. Exports $347,578,725 
U.S. Imports $36,871,668 
U.S. Trade Balance $310,707,057 
 
13) Economic Review:  Barbados enjoys a long-standing democratic 
tradition, a strong commitment to the rule of law, and an open 
economy with a marked dependence upon imports, over 37 percent of 
which come from the United States.  As in many of the small Caribbean 
island states, tourism is a major contributor to the country's 
economy:  over 75 percent of Barbados' GDP in 2006 came from the 
services sector, with tourism accounting for not less than 12 
percent.  As reported by the Central Bank of Barbados, most of the 
country's economic indicators were strong in 2006, GDP rose 3.9 
percent, unemployment was relatively static at 8.7 percent, inflation 
was down fractionally to 7.3 percent, and the debt-to-GDP ration 
continued to fall, to 71.5 percent.  Tourism receipts were up 
slightly, with a noticeable shift from cruise tourism to "long stay" 
tourism. 
 
14) Commitment to WTO and FTAA:  Barbados, as is the case with many 
other Caribbean countries, has its tariffs bound at high levels.  In 
WTO negotiations, Barbados is a vocal advocate of special and 
differential treatment for small-island developing states.  The 
country is also a strong and active supporter of the FTAA process, 
individually and in coordination with other CARICOM countries, and 
played a constructive role in advancing the FTAA process at the 
November 2005 Summit of the Americas in Mar del Plata.  USAID has an 
active technical assistance program to help Barbados meet its 
commitments under international trade agreements. 
 
15) Protection of Intellectual Property:  The Government of Barbados 
strengthened its 1998 Copyright Act in 2004.  The Government of 
Barbados has also passed several laws to comply with the TRIPS 
Agreement.  Although Barbados has strong intellectual property 
 
legislation, the government needs to improve its enforcement of the 
anti-piracy laws.  For example, shops openly sell and rent pirated 
CDs, videos, and DVDs. 
 
16) Provision of Internationally Recognized Worker Rights: 
In Barbados, the legal minimum working age of sixteen is widely 
observed.  Labor inspectors are employed to enforce the law.  Only 
two categories of workers have a formally regulated minimum wage - 
household domestics and shop assistants.  The standard legal workweek 
is forty hours in five days, and the law requires overtime payment 
for hours worked in excess.  The Labor Ministry enforces health and 
safety standards and follows up to ensure that management corrects 
problems cited.  Trade union monitors identify safety problems for 
government factory inspectors to ensure the enforcement of safety and 
health regulations and effective correction by management.  When it 
enacted the Occupational Safety and Health at Work Act early in 2005, 
the government of Barbados upgraded standards for use of machinery 
and chemicals and for protecting workers from poor lighting, noise, 
and vibration.  The Labor Ministry also plans to propose two other 
pieces of worker rights legislation to Parliament this year, an 
employment rights bill and a gender-neutral sexual harassment bill. 
The government is also considering enacting a national minimum wage 
bill, which will replace the current Shop Act which mandates a 
minimum wage of 5.00 Barbados dollars (approximately 2.50 US dollars) 
an hour for retail clerks only.  The Labor Ministry recommends that 
companies pay at least this amount, but some sectors do not. 
 
17) Commitments to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor: 
Barbados ratified ILO Convention 182 on October 23, 2000.  There is 
no widespread pattern of child labor in the country.  A rapid 
assessment conducted in 2002 by the ILO's Caribbean office found that 
most children who worked did so part-time, after school and on 
weekends.  However, the report also indicated evidence of commercial 
sexual exploitation of children and other worst forms of child labor, 
such as involvement in drug sales and hazardous activities such as 
construction.  The legal minimum working age of sixteen is generally 
observed.  Local law prohibits forced or bonded labor by children, 
and those prohibitions are enforced. 
 
18) Counter-Narcotics Cooperation:  The President has not identified 
Barbados as a major drug transit or major illicit drug producing 
country under the provision of the FRAA. 
 
19) Implementation of the Inter-American Convention Against 
Corruption:  Barbados signed the IACAC in April 2001 but has not 
ratified it. 
 
20) Transparency in Government Procurement:  The government, through 
the Ministry of Finance's Special Tenders Committee, follows 
competitive bidding standards for most contracts and acquisitions. 
Ocasionally, a proposal to use other methods is presnted to the 
funding institution for its non-objetion if sole-sourcing is the 
only option or uniqe expertise is required. 
 
Dominica 
-------- 
opulation: 70,600 
Per Capita GDP (in current pries, US dollars) 4,251 
 
21) The Commonwealth of Doinica is widely recognized as having the 
worst fnancial situation of all the OECS Member.  However, in an 
effort to repair the economy, Dominica completed a three-year IMF 
stabilization and adjustment program in December 2006.  The IMF 
concluded that it was satisfied with the manner Dominica implemented 
the program.  In completing this program, the country implemented 
several difficult economic reforms and is back on the path of 
economic growth.  Dominica has turned its economy around, but still 
faces major challenges in diversifying its economy and improving 
infrastructure.  Hurricane Dean, which struck in August 2007, was one 
of these challenges, having wiped out virtually 100% of Dominica's 
crucial banana crop, as well as the vast majority of most other 
agricultural crops.  In addition to agricultural damage, Hurricane 
Dean left major infrastructural damage to roads, bridges, and 
riverbed and seabed walls. 
 
22) In Dominica, minimum wages are set for various categories of 
worker. However, these were last revised in 1989.  Dominica is a 
signatory of the ILO Minimum Wage Convention, which specifies that 
fifteen is the minimum working age.  The Employment Safety Act 
provides occupational health and safety regulations that are 
consistent with international standards. 
 
Grenada 
------- 
Population: 105,900 
Per Capita GDP (in current prices, US dollars) 4,758 
 
23) Grenada's economy, dependent on tourism, education, and 
agriculture, was hit hard by the post-9/11 decline in tourism.  It 
was then devastated by Hurricanes Ivan (2004) and Emily (2005).  Ivan 
 
brought the economy to a near-standstill, doing damage equal to two 
and one-half times Grenada's GDP.  With assistance from the United 
States and other sources of international aid, reconstruction 
proceeded quickly.  Despite initial high unemployment in the tourist 
and other sectors, urban Grenadians benefited post-hurricane from job 
opportunities in the surging construction sector. Agricultural 
workers did not fare as well.  Hurricane Ivan in 2004 destroyed or 
significantly damaged a large percentage of Grenada's nutmeg, cocoa, 
and other tree crops.  Hurricane Emily eight months later in 2005 
further damaged the sector.  Complete recovery will take years as 
many farmers simply walked away from their land.  Grenada continues 
to import many of the basic foods which are no longer grown in 
sufficient quantities on the island.  In anticipation of Cricket 
World Cup matches held on the island in the spring of 2007, many 
Grenadians renewed their focus on the rebuilding process.  The number 
of hotel and home-stay rooms in the tri-island state increased in 
2007 as a result.  Predictions are for an increase in tourism. 
However, Grenada lags behind its neighbors in marketing the island 
overseas and many rooms still remain empty for much of each year. 
St. George's University, a large American medical and veterinary 
school with 3,700 students, about 1,200 of them American citizens, is 
in full operation and making a significant contribution to the 
economy.  Due to the closure of SGU's St. Vincent campus, there are 
350 additional students in Grenada, resulting in a construction 
boomlet on the St. George's campus in 2007 to create housing and 
teaching space for them.  Grenada has good infrastructure, a 
relatively high literacy rate, and stable political system.  High 
public debt resulting from rebuilding efforts following the two 
hurricanes continues to be a drag on the economy.  Further economic 
diversification, especially in tourism and education services and 
higher-end niche agricultural markets, should improve Grenada's 
longer-term prospects. 
 
24) Grenada's minimum wage was last raised in July 2002 for domestic 
workers, plumbers, agricultural workers, and shop assistants.  The 
normal workweek is forty hours in five days.  Unemployment, 
especially among youth aged 18-25, is over 20%.  The cost of living 
has been going up for the last several years. 
 
St. Kitts and Nevis 
------------------- 
Population: 49,300 
Per Capita GDP (in current prices, US dollars) 8,695 
 
25) As for the other islands in the Eastern Caribbean, tourism is the 
most important sector of the St. Kitts and Nevis economy.  The 
government decided to close the nation's unprofitable sugar industry 
in 2005 after three centuries of sugar production, and the country 
gave its roughly 1200 former sugar workers the equivalent of a year's 
pay in severance.  With an economy otherwise thriving, finding new 
employment for these former sugar company employees is the 
government's main challenge.  Many of them are expected to retire, 
but opportunities are available for others in the expanding tourism 
sector and related occupations, such as growing food and flowers for 
hotels. 
 
26) Minimum wages in St. Kitts and Nevis vary by category of worker. 
The minimum wage provides a barely adequate living for a wage earner 
and family; many workers supplement wages by keeping small animals 
such as goats and chickens.  The law provides for a forty to 
forty-four hour workweek in five days.  While there are no specific 
health and safety regulations, the Factories Law provides general 
health and safety guidance to Labor Ministry inspectors.  The Labor 
Commission settles disputes over health and safety conditions. 
 
St Lucia 
-------- 
Population: 164,200 
Per Capita GDP (in current prices, US dollars) 5,374 
 
27) The Government of St. Lucia, one of the most effective and stable 
governments in the Eastern Caribbean, has turned to tourism to 
revitalize its economy.  During 2005, the hotel and restaurant 
industry grew by 6.3 percent during and stay-over arrivals increased 
by 6.5 percent, with the United States accounting for 35.4 percent of 
these arrivals.  Yacht passengers rose by 21.9 percent.  Meanwhile, 
the banana industry declined 29.1 percent during the year.  The 
current government currently plans to further promote tourism 
investment, bringing in various new large-scale resorts. 
Simultaneously, the government hopes to stabilize agriculture by 
promoting new techniques, such as agri-processing. 
 
28) Minimum wage regulations in St. Lucia have remained in effect 
since their institution in 1985.  The legislated workweek is 41 
hours, although the common practice is to work forty hours in five 
days.  Occupational health and safety regulations are relatively well 
developed; however, there are only two qualified inspectors for the 
entire country. 
 
St. Vincent and the Grenadines 
 
------------------------------ 
Population: 49,300 
Per Capita GDP (in current prices, US dollars) 4,101 
 
29) The economy of St. Vincent and the Grenadines is small and weak 
and the Government is heavily in debt.  The economy of the country 
relies heavily on the declining banana industry, which employs 
upwards of 60 percent of the work force and accounts for 50 percent 
of merchandise exports.  St. Vincent, like other Caribbean banana 
producers, is striving to diversify its economy.  Crop substitution 
has given rise to increased marijuana production, and some segments 
of the population now depend on marijuana production and trafficking 
for their income. Tourism in the Grenadines is flourishing, with 
several new world-class hotels planned for the island of Canouan. 
 
30) The Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines updated its 
minimum wage laws in 2003.  Minimum wages vary by category of worker. 
 The law prescribes workweek length according to category.  For 
example, industrial employees work forty hours a week, and store 
clerks work forty-four hours a week.  The law stipulates a minimum 
working age of sixteen.  The government also added hazardous work 
legislation to protect workers, particularly in the agriculture 
sector. 
 
HOWARD