News Briefs

Jamaica removed from US Trade Representative watch list

Jamaica has been removed from the United States Trade Representative watch list, which the country has been on for decades. This follows the tabling of the Patents and Designs Bill by Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries Audley Shaw, which led to the passage in January 2020 of the Patents and Designs Act to replace the country’s outdated patent and industrial designs regime. The new bill was developed in an effort to modernise Jamaica’s patent and industrial designs regime and to implement its international obligations.

Jamaica’s removal was disclosed by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) in Washington on April 29 in its annual Special 301 Report, which identifies trading partners that do not adequately or effectively protect and enforce intellectual property (IP) rights or otherwise deny market access to US innovators and creators that rely on protection of their IP rights.

Carnival plans to resume Jamaica cruises in August

MIAMI (AP):

Carnival Cruise Line announced on Monday that it will start cruising again, from Florida and Texas, beginning in August. These Caribbean trips are the first to be announced by one of the major cruise lines since the coronavirus pandemic forced a near-total pause in the global cruise industry.

The ports of Miami, Cape Canaveral and Galveston, Texas, were selected because they are accessible by car for the majority of the guests, the company said in a statement. The eight ships named by the company have itineraries showing stops in the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, Jamaica and Mexico, among other countries.

The US State Department began warning against cruise travel on March 8, and the CDC issued a no-sail order on March 14, which was extended and set to expire on July 24. The order prompted several countries, including some in the Caribbean, to reject cruise ships suspected of carrying infected passengers and crew members, stranding some ships at sea for weeks.

Carnival Cruise Line has not revealed what measures it is taking to prevent future COVID-19 outbreaks once it resumes sailing.