(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is embarking on a busy period in the trade negotiations arena as the Region prepares to implement already signed trade agreements while at the same time embark on negotiations for new agreements with a number of states.

This period of intense work will also pose some challenges in light of the work to be done to integrate the Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM) into the CARICOM Secretariat, according to the Chairman of the CARICOM Prime Ministerial Sub Committee on External Negotiations, Prime Minister of Jamaica, the Honourable Bruce Golding.

Speaking at the CARICOM Secretariat today, Wednesday 1 July, at a meeting of the Sub-committee, Prime Minister Golding highlighted some of the trade issues which would engage the Region.

These include the programme for the implementation of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) signed last October between the Caribbean Forum of African Caribbean and Pacific States (CARIFORUM) and the European Union, upcoming negotiations with Canada and the Dominican Republic and the plan to complete the Doha Round at the level of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

He said that the discussions with the Dominican Republic now needed to be considered in line with the request of that country for membership of CARICOM.

Prime Minister Golding added that the Copenhagen negotiations on a new global climate change agreement would also engage the attention of the Prime Ministerial Sub Committee.

The Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on External Negotiations is comprised of Heads of Government of Barbados, Guyana, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica.