(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Trade Ministers of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) are to bring into sharper focus the expansion of the categories of persons eligible to move freely, within the context of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).

The Ministers will meet on 16-17 November in Georgetown, Guyana for the Twenty-Second Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED), which is expected to advance discussions on Free Movement as well as other issues relevant to the operation of the CSME.

In July 2006 at the Twenty Sixth Meeting of The Conference, CARICOM Heads of Government agreed to expand the categories of persons eligible for free movement, to include nurses and teachers who were not university graduates.

Among the varied issues that will also be discussed by the COTED are, CARICOM’s policy on government procurement, progress towards the removal of restrictions to trade by Member States and the operation of the Development Fund.

The Ministers will also discuss transportation against the backdrop of a study of critical concerns of shippers and issues that impact on the transportation of agriculture and other products within the Community and beyond.