CARIBARENA Antigua

Local stakeholders in three sectors are being given the chance to discuss their trade concerns during a meeting next week with OECS and CARICOM officials.

The July 19 – 20 stakeholder consultation on the CARICOM/Canada Trade and Development Agreement takes place at the Parliament building, beginning at 9 am. Participants will come from the cultural industry, manufacturing and agricultural sectors to examine issues relating to institutional, legal, trade issues, services and investment, against the wider background of market access.

The consultations are expected to generate information to be included in the current trade and development agreement being negotiated between CARICOM and Canada.

The present non-reciprocal preferential agreement between CARICOM and Canada (CARIBCAN), which ends next year, is generally recognised as inadequate in providing a secure foundation for the region’s future trade and economic relations with Canada.

The agreement relates only to the trade of goods, but excludes the service sector. The current negotiations aim to include trade in services, as statistics show recent  growth has been recorded in this sector.

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Facilitators of the consultations are Deloris Francis, programme officer within the Trade Policy Unit of the OECS Secretariat, as well as Ambassador Gail Mathurin, Director General of CARICOM’s Office on Trade Negotiations, (OTN) Chantal Onanaiwu, Trade Policy and Legal Specialists, Natallie Rochester-King, Services Analysts, Vincent Atkins, Trade Policy Adviser on Government Procurement and Competition Policy and Allan Paul, Senior Trade Policy Advisor.

The OCES/CARICOM Officials will also meet with a Cabinet Sub Committee, and an  Inter Ministerial Committee of  technicians who have responsibility for all aspects of the current negotiations.

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