(CARIFORUM Directorate, Caribbean Community Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) - CARIFORUM Senior officials recently met with counterparts from the European Commission to continue discussions on the simplification of the rules of origin that govern trade in goods under the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).

The discussion took place during the Third Meeting of the Joint Working Group established to review the EPA Rules of Origin, chaired by, Ms. Margaret Ventura, EPA Coordinator, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade a representative of Belize the current Chair of CARIFORUM.

Under the CARIFORUM-EU EPA, CARIFORUM States can export their products duty free, quota free to a European Union Member State. To benefit from this preferential treatment, companies from CARIFORUM States must prove that their products are manufactured using processes and or inputs that have been agreed with the EU. These conditions are usually referred to as originating criteria or Rules of Origin. They are contained in Protocol I to the EPA.