CCJ to protect traders of goods and services

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Traders of goods and services will have protection from the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), under the Caricom Regional Integration Electronic Public Procurement System, being developed across the region.

According to Ivor Carryl, programme manager for the Caricom Single Market and Economy at the Caricom Secretariat, a regional public procurement notice board will be created for member states to post their contracts, and where any player feels that unfairness is involved in the award of the contracts, the CCJ can be called on to adjudicate.

"In Article 7, which deals with non-discriminatory, equal treatment and fairness, all of your domestic laws and practices relating to Caricom, must mirror those provisions," he told JIS News in an interview.

"If a Jamaican company under the protocol submits a bid, and for some reason he feels aggrieved that the process (the tender evaluation) didn't go right, he would have the right under the treaty to challenge the procuring entity, and ask them to explain why he did not win the bid; and he has the right to go to court and challenge the decision," the Caricom official added.

Carryl explained that under the Regional Procurement Regime, the appeal mechanism has been strengthened, so persons will have easier access in seeking redress.