President urged to appoint special task force on trade liberalisation of goods and services

The appointment of a Presidential Task Force to examine all issues pertaining to trade liberalisation in goods and services – vis-à-vis the debate over the import of labour – has been strongly urged by the Organisation of Professionals Association (OPA).

It is also urging the Government to ensure that Sri Lankan nationals own 100 per cent national retail trade in goods and services.

The request has been made by the OPA, the powerful and influential body representing qualified Sri Lankan professionals, in a January 6 dated letter to President Maithripala Sirisena.

This development is in the backdrop of fears expressed by Sri Lankan professionals and other connected sectors that the proposed Indo-Lanka Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) would open the floodgates to unregulated import of labour from India while a similar, proposed pact with China is raising the same issue.

The OPA and organisations under its ambit have expressed unhappiness over alleged attempts to steamroll the Indo-Lanka pact without considering, seriously, the issues raised by Sri Lankan professionals.

Although ETCA was to have been signed by December 2016, talks with Indian side have proceeded at snail’s pace. Now the negotiations – a third round which concluded in Colombo last week - are expected to be concluded in May and the agreement to be signed in June, official sources say though this timeline is also subject to the government overcoming growing opposition over ETCA.

The OPA letter said that it has participated in discussions with the Ministry of Development Strategies and International Trade (My/DS &IT) since February 2016, on matters pertaining to (a) ETCA with India and other free trade agreements already in operation, and (b) formulation of a national trade policy.

The letter, signed by OPA President Ruwan Gallage, says:

“It is our considered opinion that the staff available in the My/DS & IT is not adequate to draft the required Domestic Regulatory Mechanism. This was stated by the My/DS & IT itself. The OPA also finds that the draft National Trade Policy forwarded to the OPA by the My/DS & IT for observations and comments, is not time bound, does not define the scope of national trade in Sri Lanka and does not cover the areas, which should have been taken into consideration seriously for creating space and opportunities for citizens of Sri Lanka in local trade in goods and services.

“In these circumstances, we earnestly request Your Excellency to appoint a Presidential Task Force or a Presidential Commission to make recommendations on; 1) Domestic Regulatory Mechanism that needs to be enacted before commencing negotiations with any country for entering into an agreements/s for liberalisation of trade in goods and services; 2) National Trade Policy, which is time bound and which should ensure 100 per cent ownership for national retail trade in goods and services by citizens of Sri Lanka 3) In view of the above, also to give consideration to include the following Terms of Reference for the Task Force/Presidential Commission, 4) Review the performances of FTAs in operation between Sri Lanka and other countries 5) Review the commitments made by the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) to WTO/GATS and to recommend “minimum” number of economics activities as “Commitments” of GOSL (the number of activities could be increased depending on performances of FTAs), considering that 22 years have lapsed since making the first commitment in 1994 and that WTO/GATS Guidelines permit amending the commitment after 3 years; 6) Consult all stakeholders involved in trade in goods and services at national, regional and local levels including local professional bodies; 7) Review the ownership of retail trade in goods and services in the country and to make recommendations to ensure that the retail trade in goods and services in the country is 100 per cent owned by citizens of Sri Lanka “The OPA also requests the President to appoint nominees of the OPA as members of the Task Force/ Presidential Commission, which the OPA prefers to be not less than 30 per cent of the total number of members and to instruct the relevant Ministers and Heads of Institutions involved in the above mentioned tasks, not to commence negotiations with any country until the domestic mechanisms, such as Laws, Regulations and Standards for Registration and Quality Compliance are enacted in Sri Lanka’s legal system.

The intention of the OPA is not to oppose liberalisation of trade in goods and services but to assist the government in ensuring that citizens of Sri Lanka could reap benefits from any future Free Trade Agreement without exposure for exploitation.”