Government rules out bottled water import ban, cites ECOWAS trade obligations

By Mama A. Touray

The Gambian government has no plans to restrict or ban bottled water imports, Trade Minister Mod K. Ceesay has told parliament, arguing that regional trade rules prevent member states from closing their markets to goods produced within the ECOWAS bloc.

Ceesay was responding to a question from Alhagie Mbow, the National Assembly member for Upper Saloum, on whether the government intended to curb bottled water imports to support local manufacturers.

“[The] government currently does not place restrictions on the importation of bottled water. That’s the default position, especially for those originating from the ECOWAS region,” the minister told lawmakers. “One of the reasons is that if we do the restriction or the moratorium, what happens to water produced in Senegal and Guinea? Are we also going to restrict and ban them?”

He said The Gambia faced a “technical problem” in restricting bottled water imports because it operated within a regional market. “You cannot ban or restrict regional goods, so you compete with them,” he said.

Instead of imposing restrictions, Ceesay said the government was encouraging and supporting local manufacturers, including bottled water producers, to expand production and take advantage of opportunities under the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme.

“We introduce preferences for local production,” he added.

The minister also said it would be difficult to distinguish between national, regional and international goods when applying restrictions.

“You either restrict or you don’t restrict,” he told parliament. Ceesay said the government had developed support mechanisms through the Social Development Fund and other instruments to give local producers a competitive advantage in both regional and international markets.

“But to strictly introduce a legal regulation instrument, we will have to either ban or unban but unfortunately we belong to a regional market, and as such we cannot close our national market and expect other markets to open for our own goods,” he said.

Mbow, however, said he was not convinced by the minister’s response and urged the government to consider measures to protect domestic producers.

“The minister should look deep into the importation of water into the country because there should be a way, just like the way we protected cement producers, just like how Senegal also protected re-export trade on chicken legs. I strongly believe that we should be able to find something to be able to protect our local producers of water,” he said.

Responding to a further question, Ceesay said bottled water and bottles were being produced locally.

“As far as water and bottles are concerned, we are manufacturing and producing them here and quality water is produced here in The Gambia,” he said.