Secretary General feels CARICOM is se to achieve 1999 goals
SECRETARY General of CARICOM Secretariat, Dr Edwin Carrington, yesterday boasted that the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) is well on the way to realising its goals for 1999. In an address at the opening session of the Seventh Meeting convened at the CARICOM Secretariat headquarters, Dr Carrington called upon his colleagues to "redouble their efforts". He urged that they be guided by the biblical injunction that "it is not the beginning but the continuing of the same until it is thoroughly finished, which yieldeth the true glory!", that glory being Single Market and Economy. The CARICOM Secretary General further noted that with Friday's meeting being the last to be convened by COTED for this year, it would be fitting for them to make it a memorable one by taking the necessary decisions to lay the base for beginning of the next year and the new century. Friday's COTED meeting was chaired by Minister of Commerce, Industry and Business Development, Antigua and Barbuda, Mr Hilroy Humphreys. Mr Carrington described the agenda for the meeting as wide-ranging as the responsibilities of the Council itself, adding that several matters relating to the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME); external economic and trade relations; the functioning of the Common Market and intra-regional trade; regional standards and the establishment of effective institutional arrangements; agriculture; sustainable development and services, were due to be discussed. According to him, in the new institutional arrangements established by Protocol I, COTED has responsibility for promoting the development as well as for overseeing the operations of the CSME. He recalled that the Conference of Heads of Government in 1989 agreed to the concept of a CSME, in 1992 on how it should be established, and in 1997 committed itself to making 1999 the year when the key elements would be implemented. However, he went on, while COTED has been making progress towards those ends, there still remains much work to be done. Defining the features of the CSME, the CARICOM Secretary General said they include the free movement of goods, services, capital, and labour, and a common external trade policy. CSME, he explained, aims to create a single enlarged economic space to makes it possible for the Region's focus to more effectively shift towards competitive production for both intra-regional and extra-regional markets and to achieve the primary goal of a viable economic and social Community. The latter includes improved standards of living and increased levels of competitiveness and production. Meanwhile, the revision of the Treaty of Chaguaramas is designed to provide the legal framework for the establishment of the CSME, providing for, among other principles, the Right of Establishment; the Provision of Services and the Movement of Capital; Trade, Industrial, Agricultural, Transport and Competition Policy; support for disadvantaged countries, regions and sectors, and disputes settlement. COTED, in addition to the CSME, has particular responsibility for most of the these areas as well as matters relating to goods, services, trade (intra-and extra-regional), industry, agriculture, transport, competition, and also science and technology, and environment and sustainable development, all of which are integral elements of the CSME. As for achievements so far for the year, the Secretary General said the Treaty's provisions for the right of establishment, provision of services and movement of capital - in Protocol II- are in place, and are being provisionally applied. In addition, the necessary groundwork is being undertaken to facilitate effective implementation of the Protocol. Five of the other seven Protocols revising the Treaty are awaiting signatures of only two member States. These Member States are committed to doing so as soon as their legal processes will allow, he noted, adding that two remaining Protocols on Competition Policy and Disputes Settlement are in draft and were on the Agenda for consideration at yesterday's meeting. The agenda , he said, relates directly to the production and trade in goods and services, and while restrictions on the intra-regional trade in goods are relatively few, what is not surprising is that Member States have been becoming more vigilant about protecting their rights in an increasingly liberalised environment. The resolution of such issues and the establishment of the policies and institutional; arrangements relating to the functioning of the market, standards and fisheries development and the development of the services sectors in the Region are critical and urgent, especially as they seek to perform effectively in the wider global environment. The Secretary General recalled that two weeks ago COTED met in special session to consider external negotiation issues. According to him, external trade and economic matters are particularly important to our small economies and were scheduled to form a significant part of yesterday's agenda.
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