C A R I B B E A N                     C O M M U N I T Y                         S E C R E T A R I A T

TWENTY-NINTH MEETING OF                                                   

THE STANDING COMMITTEE OF

CARIBBEAN STATISTICIANS                                                       SCCS/2004/29/5

Hamilton, Bermuda

22-24 November 2004                                                                     16 November 2004

ESTABLISHMENT OF A COMMON SYSTEM FOR FREE MOVEMENT STATISTICS

1.         Background

At the Third and Fourth Meeting of Officials on Free Movement, the aspect of Free Movement Statistics was discussed and it was agreed that information should be collected and submitted by Member States to the Secretariat. The Statistics Sub-Programme made a presentation entitled "Compilation of Statistics on the Movement of Persons in the Region: Exploration of a Harmonised Approach" in the Third Meeting.  In addition, comments on the data to be collected were submitted by the Statistics Sub-Programme to aid in the improvement of Free Movement Statistics. Arising out of these comments, the Statistics Sub-Programme was asked to make a presentation at the Fifth Meeting of Officials on Free Movement in order to establish a common reporting format.  This Meeting was held in Georgetown, Guyana on 4-5 February 2004.

The provisions of Free Movement enabled nationals of Member States to have the right to provide services by any of the four modes of supply under Article 36 (4) of the Revised Treaty establishing the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).  These are in effect the four modes of supply which are also contained under the General Agreement of Trade in Services (GATS). Movements of skilled community nationals are divided into wage-earners and non-wage earners.  Non-wage earners and managerial technical and supervisory persons are covered under the programme for Free Movement of Capital and Rights of Establishment.  In respect of wage-earners, implementation of the provisions will be achieved through the Caribbean Community Skilled Nationals Bill or appropriate amendment of the Immigration Act to remove restrictions relating to work permits and residency.  Except for Montserrat, all Member States have enacted legislation to give effect to the Free Movement of Skilled Community nationals which comprise the following five areas - University Graduates and specialised occupations namely, Musicians, Artistes, Sport persons and Media Workers.

Supporting legislations and administrative directives to enable free movement relate to the establishment of regional and national accreditation bodies that would overseer the accreditation and equivalency of certificates and qualifications.  The facilitation of travel is another area which will enable free movement through effecting a CARICOM passport, the use of electronically readable identification for intra-regional travel, a common Embarkation/Disembarkation form and implementation for national treatment at ports of entry.  In addition, with respect to the issue of Social Security, there is an agreement to transfer social security benefits across Member States with the exception so far of Suriname which has not yet signed this Agreement.  Suriname does not have comparable social security system with other Member States.

2.         Elements of a Common Format

The Statistics Sub-Programme suggested an electronic database format preferably in Microsoft Access for the compilation and submission of data to the Secretariat. Elements of the database were presented to the Meeting. The fields were: ID, Nationality, Age, Sex, Issued (certificate of skill issued), Spouse (entry of spouse), Male dependants (nos.), Female dependants (nos.), Skill category, Occupation and Industry.  Also suggested for inclusion in the database were variables representing, country, year/quarter of data, date application/issue of certificate.  The fields, occupation and industry were indicated as being optional. The Meeting was presented with a sample data in datasheet format.

3.         Recommendations of the Fifth Meeting of Officials

In the ensuing discussions, suggestions were to include the following variables: Country of Birth, Application at port of entry, Status of application.  It was also indicated that where a spouse also applied/was issued a skill certificate this fact should be known.  The Secretariat suggested that there should be some linkage of this spouse in the file since he/she too would also be an applicant in his/her own right. The officials agreed to the compiling and submitting this data by electronic means. The Meeting also obtained an idea about the ministries/government departments that can submit information on Free Movement Statistics. The Statistics Sub-Programme also learnt that skill certificates can be issued within one Member State for entry into another Member State or can be applied for from within a specific Member State.  The information on "application at port of entry" is therefore of importance in analysing the source of the application.  The future needs for other categories of persons who move such as service providers and self-employed and who would not have a skill certificate was also discussed.

4.         Implementation of the Free Movement System

The Statistics Sub-Programme was also asked to develop a system to monitor the Free Movement of Persons. The system developed was in Microsoft Access. Essentially the system is able to monitor persons applying for skills certificate in the Region which is the requirement to enable movement.  Within this framework, it is possible to monitor some persons who have actually moved.  The system comprises a data entry format to enable the capture of information, and a report format through which the results can be disseminated in customised tables.

Based on this request, training of officials was conducted in October 2004.  The reports that are available are set out in the Attachment to this Paper.

ACTION REQUIRED

The Meeting is invited to -

:           note the development of a system to monitor Free movement of Persons under the CSME.

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ATTACHMENT

REPORTS AVAILABLE FROM THE FREE MOVEMENT DATABASE SYSTEM

1.         Control Total Reports provided quarterly and annual data are available as follows:

Number of CARICOM Nationals Applying For Skills Certificate by Quarter

Number Of CARICOM Nationals Applying For Skills Certificate By Sex

Number Of CARICOM Nationals Applying For Skills Certificate By Skill Category

Number Of CARICOM Nationals Applying For Skills Certificate By Age Group

Number Of CARICOM Nationals Applying For Skills Certificate By Nationality

Number Of CARICOM Nationals Applying For Skills Certificate By Country of Residence

Number Of CARICOM Nationals Applying For Skills Certificate By Country of Birth

Number Of CARICOM Nationals Applying For Skills Certificate By Industry

Number Of CARICOM Nationals Applying For Skills Certificate By Occupation

Number Of CARICOM Nationals Applying For Skills Certificate By Number of Dependants

Number Of CARICOM Nationals Applying For Skills Certificate By Application status of Spouse

Similar tables are available to show Applicants who were Issued Skill Certificates and those who were Not Issued Skill Certificates

Summary Reports containing more in-depth tables are as follows:

Summary of CARICOM Nationals Applying For Skills Certificate By Application Outcome

Number of CARICOM Nationals applying for Skills Certificate by Application Outcome and Sex

Number of CARICOM Nationals applying for Skills Certificate by Application Outcome and Skill Category

Number of CARICOM Nationals applying for Skills Certificate by Application Outcome and Age Group

Number of CARICOM Nationals applying for Skills Certificate by Application Outcome and Nationality

Number of CARICOM Nationals applying for Skills Certificate by Application Outcome and Country of Residence

Number of CARICOM Nationals applying for Skills Certificate by Application Outcome and Country of Birth

Number of CARICOM Nationals applying for Skills Certificate by Application Outcome and number of Dependants

Number of CARICOM Nationals applying for Skills Certificate by Application Outcome and Application status of spouse

Similar tables are available to show Applicants who were Issued Skill Certificates and those who were Not Issued Skill Certificates