(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Twentieth Meeting of the Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on External Negotiations of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) will be convened in Georgetown, Guyana, July 1, 2009 to consider critical issues pertaining to the Community’s trade relations with Third States.

Among the matters to be considered is the incorporation of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM) into the CARICOM Secretariat as a specialised department. The assimilation of the CRNM into the Secretariat was endorsed at the 20th Inter-sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government, Belize, 12-13 March 2009.

The CARICOM Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on External Negotiations will also examine the preparations for the commencement of the CARICOM-Canada Negotiations for a Trade and Development Agreement.

Senior Trade Officials of CARICOM and Canada had been engaged in exploratory technical discussions to identify the broad subject scope and structure of the negotiations. Heads of Government, at their Inter-sessional Meeting in Belize, approved the draft CARICOM Negotiating Brief to be used as the basis for the commencement of negotiations.

Wednesday’s Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee meeting will also consider matters related to the implementation of Caribbean Forum of African Caribbean and Pacific States (CARIFORUM)-European Community (EC) Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) signed in October 2008.

In February 2009 the CARICOM Secretariat had established a Unit to coordinate the implementation of the Agreement, in keeping with a mandate handed down by the Heads of Government. The provisional application of the EPA became effective on December 29, 2008.

CARICOM’s future external trade negotiations agenda of CARICOM and regional developments related to Bananas are also on the Meeting’s agenda.

The Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on External Negotiations of the Caribbean Community will be convened ahead of the opening of 30th Meeting of the Caribbean Community Conference of Heads of Government on July 2, 2009 in Georgetown, Guyana.