EPA TAKES CENTRE STAGE AT KEY COMMUNITY MEETINGS

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) A series of key meetings of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), including the Nineteenth Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Heads of Government in Nassau, The Bahamas, will be held within the next ten days.

Among them is the Meeting of the Reflections Group on the CARIFORUM/EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) that was initialed last December in Barbados. The Reflections Group will meet in Kingston, Jamaica on 28-29 February 2008.

The Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) had taken a decision last year that an independent review be undertaken of the EPA negotiations. COTED also mandated that the outcome be considered by a Reflections Group comprising Senior Officials of Member States, the CARICOM and OECS Secretariats, the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM), and stakeholders from across the Community.

The meeting is expected to review CARICOM’s preparation for, its approach to and its conduct of negotiations of the EPA, and assess the development dimension of the Agreement.

The Twenty-Fourth Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) which will be held in the Bahamas on March 5 2008 will consider the report of the Meeting of the Reflections Group. At the Special COTED meeting there will be a presentation of the EPA following the completion of a review by legal minds.

Also on the agenda of that meeting are discussions on `Poverty and the rising cost of living’ as well as an update on, and outlook for the multilateral trade negotiations under the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

The following day, the Twelfth Meeting of the Council for Finance and Planning (COFAP) will be convened, also in the Bahamas. That forum will also consider the EPA with regard to the financial and development implications of the Agreement. Preparations for the CARICOM Single Economy will also be considered with specific reference to key indicators including a report on the performance and convergence of CARICOM economies.

At the COFAP meeting, the status of the proposed Regional Development Agency and of the CARICOM Development Fund will be examined.

Among the items high on the agenda of the Nineteenth Inter-Sessional Meeting on 7 and 8 March are Functional Cooperation; Presentations by Lead Heads of Government on Human Resource Development, Health and HIV and AIDS, the CSME, Free Movement of Skills, Agriculture, Tourism, Crime and Security, and Developments related to the Conduct of External Trade Negotiations; and Developments related to Youth and Culture.

The Inter-Sessional Meeting will be held at The Sheraton Resort, Cable Beach in Nassau.