COMMUNIQUE Issued at Conclusion of 31st CARICOM Intersessional Meeting

The Thirty-First Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) was held in Bridgetown, Barbados, 18-19 February 2020.  The Prime Minister of Barbados, the Right Honourable Mia Amor Mottley, Q.C; MP, Chaired the proceedings.

Other Members of the Conference in attendance
were: Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Honourable Gaston Browne; Prime
Minister of The Bahamas, Honourable Dr. Hubert Minnis; the Honourable Roosevelt
Skerrit, Prime Minister of Dominica; Prime Minister of Grenada, Dr. the Rt.
Honourable Keith Mitchell; Premier of Montserrat, the Honourable Easton
Taylor-Farrell; Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis, Dr the Honourable Timothy
Harris; Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, Honourable Allen Chastanet; Prime
Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr. the Honourable Ralph Gonsalves;
and Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. the Honourable Keith Rowley.

Belize was represented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Honourable Wilfred Elrington; Guyana was represented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Honourable Dr Karen Cummings; Haiti was represented by the Honourable Bocchit Edmond, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Jamaica was represented by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Honourable Kamina Johnson-Smith; and Suriname was represented by the Vice President,   His Excellency Michael Adhin.

Associate
Members in attendance were: Bermuda represented by the Honourable Walter H
Roban, Deputy Premier and Minister of Home Affairs; the British Virgin Islands
represented by Premier, the Honourable Andrew Fahie; and the Turks and Caicos
Islands, represented by Premier, the Honourable Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson.

Opening Session

Secretary-General of the Caribbean
Community, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, immediate past Chair of the Community,
Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, Honourable Allen Chastanet and Chairman of the
Community, Prime Minister of Barbados the Right Honourable Mia Amor Mottley,
Q.C; MP addressed the Opening Session.

Foreign Minister of Canada the
Honourable Francois-Phillipe Champagne and Secretary-General of the
Commonwealth, Baroness Patricia Scotland attended the Opening Session

The speakers
emphasised the need for the Community to act in concert in order to overcome
the challenges posed both within and from outside of the Region.  The theme of CARICOM “as a family’ threaded
through the presentations, along with praise for the regional institutions led
by the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), and the Pan American Health
Organisation (PAHO), as well as the CARICOM Secretariat for the co-ordination
of the response to the Coronavirus.

The text of the speeches is available here.

In a short ceremony, the Honourable Dr Hubert Minnis, Prime Minister of The Bahamas thanked the people of the Region, and in particular, the schoolchildren of Barbados for their assistance after the passage of Hurricane Dorian.  The Prime Minister expressed appreciation for the donation of money, books and clothing to Bahamian school children by their counterparts in Barbados representatives of whom were present at the Opening Session.

AGREEMENTS SIGNED

• Dominica 
• (i) Protocol on Public Procurement and Declaration of Intent to Provisionally Apply the Protocol on Public Procurement
• (ii) Agreement on the Return or Sharing of Recovered Assets and Declaration of Intent to Provisionally Apply the Agreement on the Return or Sharing of Recovered Assets

• British Virgin Islands
• (i)  Revised Agreement Establishing the CXC
•  (ii) 
  Agreement Establishing the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for
  Education in Medicine and Other Health Professions

• St. Vincent and the Grenadines
• Protocol on Public Procurement and Declaration of Intent to Provisionally Apply the Protocol on Public Procurement

• Instruments of Ratification

• Barbados
• Agreement on the Return or Sharing of Recovered Assets
• Belize
• Agreement Establishing the Caribbean Community Accreditation Agency for Education and Training

• Instruments of Accession

• Belize
• Revised Agreement Establishing the Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency

• Memorandum of Understanding
• Memorandum of Understanding between the Caribbean Community and the Government of the United Arab Emirates for the Establishment of a Consultation and Cooperation Mechanism

CARICOM SINGLE MARKET AND ECONOMY (CSME)

Heads of Government reviewed progress
of the CSME, and expressed their determination to increase the pace of
implementation taking into consideration the financial and human resource
constraints.

In that context, Heads of Government
welcomed the offer of Barbados to help alleviate the human resource constraint
by assigning two persons to assist the Secretariat.

Heads of Government also welcomed the
offer from Jamaica to provide scholarships to assist Member States in building
their Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) capacity.

Heads of Government further welcomed
the provision of equipment from Jamaica to assist Member States in their
efforts to identify easily the security features in the new CSME skills
certificate.

They also agreed to review the governance
structure to make it more supportive of effective implementation.  To this end, Heads of Government agreed to
hold monthly meetings via video conference.

Heads of Government further agreed to
establish a Prime Ministerial sub-Committee led by Prime Minister of St Vincent
and the Grenadines and including the Heads of Government of Barbados, Belize,
Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago to review the work of a previous
group on issues of implementation, financing and institutional arrangements for
governance. The sub-Committee would submit recommendations to the meeting of Conference
in July 2020.

They recognised that the CSME is at
the stage of implementation which requires the active and engaged participation
of not only the public sector but all stakeholders including private sector,
labour and civil society to ensure continuity and increased effectiveness in
policy development and implementation.

Heads of
Government, in recognising the urgent need to review the strategy for implementation,
mandated the Prime
Ministerial Sub-Committee on the CSME to develop a Strategy and Programme to
address implementation for consideration and approval at the Forty-First
Meeting of the Conference in July 2020 for approval.

REPORT OF THE COMMISSION ON THE ECONOMY

Heads
of Government welcomed the Report of the CARICOM Commission on the Economy and
the proposed initiatives for building resilient economies and easing the
impediments to Doing Business in the Community.

Heads
of Government engaged in an extensive exchange of views with the Chairman of
the Commission and agreed that the Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on the
CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) would consider the recommendations for
adoption by the Community. They also agreed that the Caribbean Development Bank
(CDB) and the CARICOM Development Fund (CDF) would participate in that review.

ENGAGEMENT WITH PRIVATE SECTOR, LABOUR AND CIVIL SOCIETY

Heads of Government engaged with representatives
of the private sector, labour and civil society.

They welcomed
the information from the private sector that the CARICOM Private Sector
Organisation (CPSO) had been established as a non-profit organisation with
headquarters in Barbados, as well as the private sector’s perspective on a
strategy to increase regional production and address the region’s food security
concerns.

Heads of
Government also welcomed the offer by Trinidad and Tobago to provide two persons
to assist the Community in developing the recommendations from the CPSO.

Heads of
Government also received a presentation from the Caribbean Congress of Labour
(CCL) which emphasised the need for a people-centred approach to development
that supports social justice and social stability.

Heads of
Government noted the presentations from the CPSO and the CCL and agreed the
Prime Ministerial sub-Committee on the CSME would consider the recommendations
and advise on the way forward.

HEALTH

Corona Virus – COVID-19

Heads of Government considered a Regional
Approach to the Coronavirus – COVID19.  They
received a detailed briefing from Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) on
the actions being taken throughout the Region to prevent the importation and transmission
of the COVID-19 Virus.

Heads of Government recognised that
the risk of transmission of the virus in the Region remains relatively low but
that an outbreak could reverse economic gains of CARICOM States. They welcomed
the communications strategy to increase public knowledge on actions being taken
to prevent importation and or transmission of the Virus in the Region.  They noted that the strategy was important to counter
myths and misinformation thereby reducing potential social media hysteria associated
with the fear of an outbreak in CARICOM Members.

Heads of Government welcomed the
efforts by China to assist students and other CARICOM citizens in that country
who cannot return home at this time and also welcomed the offer by China to
provide support to the Region to address potential gaps in their response
should any case of the COVID-19 be found.  They mandated the Secretariat in collaboration
with CARPHA, to explore the offer from China.

Heads of Government commended the work
of the Regional and International Institutions and the CARICOM Secretariat led
by CARPHA and the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) as well as the
CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS), the Regional
Security System (RSS), the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency
(CDEMA) and the CARICOM Secretariat in providing Member States with guidance to
support national response efforts, while strengthening Regional Health
Security.

China

Heads of Government expressed their empathy and support for China as it
continues in its efforts to contain the virus. They noted that the virus
does not affect people on the basis of ethnicity and hence discouraged
any xenophobic or racist commentary or actions.

Heart Disease

Heads of Government, concerned about
the escalation of Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in the Region,
received a report with respect to the incidence of heart attacks which has
accounted for the highest percentages of deaths amongst NCDs in most countries
in the Region.

Heads of Government welcomed the
proposals for preventative measures to arrest the trend through the implementation
of a protocol aimed at transforming the care of those who suffer cardiovascular
diseases. They reiterated the need to address the prevention of heart attacks
and other complications of NCDs.

Heads of Government recognised that
implementing the proposals would build CARICOM’s capacity to address the
incidence of heart disease and in that regard mandated the CARICOM Secretariat,
the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and the Caribbean Cardiac Society to
prepare a Draft Regional Strategy aimed at identifying critical Regional public
goods essential for operating that strategy.

SECURITY

Heads of Government expressed deep
concern about the continuing high rates of crime and violence in the Community.

In agreeing to address the matter as a
public health issue, Heads of Government will hold a Summit of Member States
and a regional multi-disciplinary partnership in Trinidad and Tobago in early
April.

Heads of Government also agreed that
enhanced security would include measures to assist in minimising the risk of
importation of the COVID-19 virus.

BLACKLISTING, DE-RISKING AND WITHDRAWAL OF CORRESPONDENT BANKING

Heads of Government view the strategy
of blacklisting and de-risking which lead to the withdrawal of correspondent
banking services, as an existential threat to the economic security of CARICOM
Member States.

Heads of Government expressed
appreciation for the opportunity to meet with members of the United States
Congress Financial Services Committee to address the deleterious impact of
de-risking on CARICOM Member States. 
That meeting resulted in a number of outcomes aimed at building the
capacity of respondent banks in the Community and changing the risk perception
of CARICOM States by US Government agencies. 
Heads of Government commended the CARICOM Ambassadors in Washington DC,
USA, for their sterling work in advancing the CARICOM Advocacy against
De-Risking.

Heads of Government deplored the
ongoing unilateral, arbitrary and non-transparent blacklisting strategy
employed by the EU and now by individual European States like France and the
Netherlands. They noted that while some Member States have been delisted, other
Member States are still negotiating with the European Union (EU) to be
de-listed or to avoid further blacklisting.

They stressed that the defensive tax
measures threatened by the European States could have serious financial
repercussions on vulnerable CARICOM States and their ability to attract the
investments needed to build resilient economies. The measures have the
potential of causing devastating economic, social and political consequences
for our States as a result of the harm that will be inflicted on our global
image, our economic competitiveness and resource mobilization efforts.

Heads of Government agreed that the
ongoing actions of the European Union constitute a blatant violation of their
sovereignty.  They reiterated the call
for the creation of an appropriate intergovernmental tax body with the adequate
means and powers to set standards and rules which support an equitable and
universal approach to an international tax governance infrastructure. 

Heads of Government expressed
appreciation for the efforts of the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda on
behalf of the Region with respect to correspondent banking.

RESILIENCE AND DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Heads of Government recalled their
approval of the CARICOM Single ICT Space as one of the key inputs to digital transformation
and to building technological resilience. They identified the removal of
roaming rates within the Community as a key component of that initiative.

In that regard, Heads of Government
welcomed the efforts of the Rt Hon Dr Keith Mitchell, Lead Head of Government
for Science and Technology who along with Colleague Heads, are advocating for
the telecommunications operators to institute a modest fixed single CARICOM
roaming rate for CARICOM nationals. The rate would include local and regional
voice calls, data and over time will include more services.

Heads of Government agreed that a technical
Committee, with oversight from the Prime Minister of Grenada, will conduct the
negotiations towards eliminating roaming rates.

Heads of Government also approved a
Committee on Caribbean Science and Technology Integration to develop a modern
Science, Technology and Innovation Policy for the Caribbean Community with associated
project proposals.  Heads of Government
were of the view that the work of the Committee could enable Member States to
exploit and harness the ideas and ingenuity of our people as well as our vast
wealth in natural resources.

Heads of Government expressed the view
that this could forge new incomes streams for our Community and engender
responsible approaches and policies to strengthen Science and Technology
integration and the development of the Region.

BORDER ISSUES

Belize-Guatemala Relations

Heads of Government received an update
on the most recent developments between Belize and Guatemala.

Heads of Government recalled the
undertaking by both countries and the Organisation of American States (OAS) to
engage in the design and development of a mechanism of co-operation for the
Sarstoon River and urged both countries and the OAS to reinvigorate their
efforts to this end.

Pending a resolution of the case
before the International Court of Justice, Heads of Government urged Belize,
Guatemala and the OAS to continue implementing fully the Confidence Building
Measures that have been in place since 2005. 
They also expressed support for the crucial role of the OAS in the process
aimed at resolving the dispute, arising from Guatemala’s claims on Belize, and
further called on the international community to continue supporting the OAS
Office in the Adjacency Zone.

Heads of Government re-emphasised
their unwavering support for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and
security of Belize.

Guyana-Venezuela Relations

Heads of Government noted that the
International Court of Justice has scheduled a hearing for the week of 23 March
2020, at which Guyana will submit its oral pleadings as to why the Court was
properly vested with jurisdiction by the United Nations Secretary General for a
final resolution to the controversy between Guyana and Venezuela.

Heads of Government reiterated their
full support for the judicial process that is intended to bring a peaceful and
definitive end to the long-standing controversy between the two countries.

Heads of Government further reiterated
their firm and unswerving support for the maintenance and preservation of the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of Guyana.

HAITI

Heads of Government reviewed the
situation in Haiti, and recognised the complexity of the issues.  They recognised there was a multiplicity of
views as to the way forward.

Heads of Government agreed to despatch
a team of senior officials led by the Secretary-General to Haiti to meet with
all relevant stakeholders.

EXCHANGE OF VIEWS WITH SPECIAL GUESTS

Heads of Government welcomed the Foreign
Minister of Canada, the Honourable Francois-Phillipe Champagne, who set out an
agenda for strengthening ties between his country and CARICOM.

Heads of Government expressed their
appreciation for the assistance granted by Canada in various fields, and looked
forward to the initiatives proposed by the Foreign Minister to advance relations.

RELATIONS WITH THE COMMONWEALTH SECRETARIAT

Heads of Government expressed their gratitude for the range of activities undertaken by the Commonwealth Secretariat whose added value redounded to the benefit of Small Island and low-lying coastal Developing States (SIDS), and further expressed their overwhelming support for the renewal of the term of office of the Secretary-General.

PROPOSED CARICOM-AFRICAN UNION SUMMIT (JUNE 2020, AFRICA)

Heads of
Government, recognising the increasing contact between Member
States and African countries, accepted the offer of Kenya to host the first
CARICOM-African Union Summit in June 2020.

They
expressed the view that such a meeting would contribute to strengthening the
relationship between the two regions, particularly in trade, investment and
cultural ties.

Heads of
Government noted that the visits of the Presidents of Ghana and Kenya to the
region and by the Prime Ministers of Barbados and Jamaica to Africa
demonstrated a rekindling of interest on both sides to forge deeper ties.  They also noted that a CARICOM Office had been
opened in Kenya last December during a visit to that country by the Prime
Minister of Barbados.

Heads of
Government further noted that changes in the current international environment have
resulted in multilateralism being weakened, with the concurrent emergence of
increasing instances of unilateralism and interventionism by the major
international actors, underlined the need for greater unity of action by the
developing world.

FIFTEENTH MEETING OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE FOR TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT, (UNCTAD XV) BARBADOS, 18-23 OCTOBER 2020

Heads
of Government congratulated Barbados on its selection to host the Fifteenth
Quadrennial United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XV)
which will be held in that Member State from 18-23 October 2020.  

They
noted that the Conference would be preceded by two Ministerial Meetings on
Small Island low-lying Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries
(LDCs) on 15-18 October 2020.

Heads
of Government recognised that UNCTAD XV provided a unique opportunity for the
Region to highlight key trade and development issues of importance to Member
States.

Heads
of Government called on the Regional committee established by the Community
Council to meet as soon as possible, with a view to developing a Regional
negotiating strategy and to ensure the active involvement of Member States
during the Conference.

Heads
of Government welcomed the opportunity that UNCTADXV provided for the staging
of an appropriate regional event observing the 75^th Anniversary of
the founding of the United Nations.

GROUP OF 77 AND CHINA

Heads of Government congratulated
Guyana on its assumption of the Chairmanship of the Group of 77 and China. They
assured Guyana of the required support and accepted Guyana’s expression of
appreciation.

Heads of Government noted that the
upcoming Third South Summit in April 2020 in Uganda under Guyana’s chairmanship
is expected to set the tone of enhancing the unity and cohesion of the Group.

IV MINISTERIAL OF THE ENERGY AND CLIMATE PARTNERSHIP OF THE AMERICAS (ECPA)

Heads
of Government recalled that in its capacity as Chair of the Energy and Climate
Partnership of the Americas (ECPA), Jamaica will host the IV Ministerial
Meeting of the ECPA on 27-28 February 2020, under the theme: Energy
Resilience and Investment Opportunities.

They
expressed satisfaction at the level of regional participation.

REGIONAL PLATFORM FOR DISASTER RISK REDUCTION IN THE AMERICAS AND THE CARIBBEAN

Heads
of Government recalled that Jamaica will host the Seventh Regional
Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Americas and the Caribbean,
which will take place from 8-10 July 2020.

Heads
of Government emphasised that given the importance of advancing national and
regional efforts to galvanise disaster risk financing, Member States were
encouraged to participate

DATE OF THE FORTY-FIRST REGULAR MEETING OF THE CONFERENCE (JULY 2020, ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES)

This Meeting will held in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on 2-3 July
2020, under the Chairmanship of the Prime Minister of St. Vincent and
the Grenadines.

CUBA DECLARATION

Heads of
Government reiterated their concern over the enhanced sanctions announced by
the US Government under Title III of the Helms-Burton Act which strengthen the
US economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba. They denounced as
unjustifiable the application of laws and measures of an extra-territorial
nature that are contrary to international law.

Heads of
Government also expressed their deep appreciation for the medical assistance
provided by Cuba to the Member States of the Community over the years that
helped build their health sectors to the benefit and wellbeing of their people.
 They acknowledged that, of their own
first-hand knowledge, the persons sent had added tremendous value to helping
their citizens. They repudiated the statement that this medical assistance
given by the Cubans was a form of human trafficking