COTED OFFICIALS, MINISTERS TO DISCUSS TRADE, ECONOMIC ISSUES

Officials and Ministers of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED), one of the chief organs of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), meet in Guyana on 23-25 January, to deliberate on a host of trade related and economic issues affecting the regional integration movement.

The COTED Officials will first meet on 23-24 January at the Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel to set the agenda for the Ministerial session on 25 January.

In this its first meeting for the year, the COTED will give primary attention to the implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), paying particular attention to the removal of restrictions to facilitate the full operation of the CSME.

In terms of the removal of restrictions, the revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, which is the legal framework for the CSME, requires CARICOM Member States to eliminate practices that are inconsistent with obligations to permit nationals of other Member States to exercise the right of establishment, the right to provide services and freely move capital across borders, and to treat other nationals of the Single Market no less favourable than their own nationals.

There will also be some focus on the establishment of the Caribbean Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ), which will regulate and raise the standards and quality of goods and services produced within the Single Market.

During the three-day conference, the COTED Officials and Ministers will also examine the implications of the events of September 11 in the United States on trade and economic developments in the Caribbean, one month after Heads of Government of the Community met in the Bahamas to discuss their impact on the Region's tourism industry.

At that meeting, CARICOM Leaders committed US$16 million to an international tourism marketing programme for the Caribbean, which heavily relies on the hospitality industry for foreign exchange.

Other issues relating to a number of bilateral and multi-lateral trade agreements will come up for discussion. These include special arrangements between Brazil and Guyana, and Brazil and Trinidad and Tobago as well as CARICOM and the Dominican Republic and CARICOM and Cuba.

In terms of Trade in Goods, there will be some discussion on the Region's rice industry as well as the implementation of the final phase of the programme for the phased reduction of the Common External Tariff (CET).