Southern African grouping observes CARICOM’s operations

A team from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), led by Ms. Paulina Elago, its Executive Secretary, is the latest from an integration grouping to look at the operations of the Caribbean Community and its Secretariat.

The delegation which includes Ms. Ndibo Oitsile Chief Legal Officer, Mr. Abed Iyambo, Senior Office Manager and Mr. Donald Ndwandwe Deputy Director Revenue Management paid a courtesy call on Secretary-General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque on Thursday. The team has been meeting with Secretariat officials in a bid to glean information in a number of key areas.

Among them is tariff setting processes and applications within CARICOM. In that context, the delegation is seeking an understanding of CARICOM’s approach to industrial development, the linkages between regional and national industrial policies, the trade in services regime, and competition policy. The SACU team is also interested in dispute settlement as well as the use, benefits, and challenges of an electronic documentation and records management system.

This visit follows one last September from a representative of the CARICOM who made a presentation to the SACU trade officials at a workshop in Namibia on Tariff Setting and Trade Remedies for SACU.

This familiarisation tour is the latest from organisations who view CARICOM as a model among integration groupings of developing countries. The Community has been the subject of study visits to the Secretariat by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Pacific Islands Forum and the Central American Integration System (SICA). The Secretariat has also been host to the African Union Commission and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The SACU delegation leaves Guyana on Saturday.