CARICOM COMMUNITY COUNCIL BREAKING GROUND FOR THE NEW YEAR

The Community Council of Ministers of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) will examine the status of implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) and the widening of the Community - its top agenda items -at the start of its first rounds of deliberations for the year later this week.

The Council, the second highest decision-making body of the Community, will convene its Ninth Meeting in Georgetown, Guyana on 26 January 2002, following the conclusion of Meetings by another Community Organ, the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED).

COTED, along with the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD), are among the Community bodies which will direct a number of issues to this forum for consideration. The Council is responsible for the development of Community strategic planning and coordination in the areas of economic integration, functional co-operation and external relations.

The deliberations at this forum are also preparatory to the Thirteenth Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community, which is scheduled for 3-4 February 2002, in Belize.

The Council, a body of Ministers responsible for Community Affairs, will discuss a range of regulatory matters to facilitate the establishment and operation of the CSME . These include two Protocols, one relating to the Revision of the Treaty of Chaguaramas, and the other giving way to the provisional application of the revised Treaty establishing the Caribbean Community. Additionally, they will consider two agreements which will respectively facilitate the establishment of two regional bodies, the Caribbean Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ), and the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) . The Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM) is also expected to engage the attention of the Ministers.

The accession of Haiti to full membership of the Community, and Associate Membership for Bermuda and the Cayman Islands are some of the other matters which will be deliberated on by the Council, in addition to matters relating to the functioning of the executive arm of the Community, the Secretariat.