Declaring it cannot be business as usual, CARICOM heads have agreed to speed up steps towards free movement and they say by August 1 this year graduates, media workers, musicians, artistes and sports persons will have the right to work across the region.

“CARICOM nationals in these categories will have the right to enter any Member State for six months in the first instance and to work in that Member State consistent with the criteria and procedures which have been agreed and which will be posted on the CARICOM web site”, the communiqué emanating from the July 2-5 summit in Montego Bay, Jamaica said yesterday.

Speeding up free movement is seen as a critical aspect of breathing life into the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) which is to be implemented by 2005.

The communiqué said that over the next several months arrangements to give effect to the free movement of the new categories of self-employed CARICOM nationals setting up businesses, providing services, relocating capital, and their managerial, technical and supervisory staff and families will be finalized.

To facilitate the smooth implementation of the CSME, CARICOM heads accepted Barbados’ offer to host a special consultation on it.

The heads also recommitted themselves to hassle-free movement of the region’s people in order to nurture a greater sense of community. “They urged Member States to ensure that this spirit of community is engendered at all ports of entry in the community”, the communiqué said. Ill-treatment of Guyanese in Barbados and other regional countries has been frequently raised by President Bharrat Jagdeo and more recently by St Vincent Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves.

Leaders at the Jamaica summit basked on Saturday in the glow of a landmark agreement to set up an executive commission to manage the implementation of CARICOM decisions and to initiate proposals. Leaders also agreed to continue dialogue on closer political union and one such meeting is scheduled for Barbados today.

The Jamaica summit saw Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide signing the Instrument of Accession to the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, formally signalling Haiti’s entry to the community but CARICOM leaders were not pleased with the situation in Port-au-Prince. The communiqué said that heads listened to a presentation by Aristide and St Lucian Minister of External Affairs, Julian Hunte, who was the joint leader of the Joint OAS-CARICOM mission to Haiti. The heads expressed disappointment that undertakings made by the government of Haiti had not been fully complied with. “Underlining the pervasive feeling of `battle-fatigue’ in the international community and the need for urgency, heads strongly urged the Government of Haiti to comply with dispatch commitments made to create a security environment conducive to the formation of the Provisional Electoral Coun-cil”. Aristide and opposition groups in Haiti have been at loggerheads for years now over elections and other matters and there has been a progressive deterioration in the human rights situation there.

Following consultations, the heads agreed that a special representative would be named to support the Organisation of American States’ Special Mission in Haiti and to facilitate dialogue between the government there and the opposition.

Emphasising the need for mechanisms to revive the regional economy, heads reaffirmed the decision to set up a Regional Stabilisation Fund with an initial capital of US$50M which would grow to US$180M in five years. Twelve members have so far made commitments to the fund and the Caribbean Development Fund has been requested to assume day-to-day management of it.

Heads also welcomed a pledge by Trinidad to provide US$16M to the Trinidad and Tobago Support Fund as an initial input to the Caribbean Development Fund for Disadvantaged Countries.

The need for a regional energy policy with security of energy supply and petroleum product pricing as its top priorities was also reiterated. The Secretary-General was mandated to provide the conference of heads with an advisory opinion on access to natural resources and other matters.

Closer integration of development in the region was addressed in the Rose Hall declaration which was released on Saturday.

External negotiations

On the trade front, heads voiced “deep concern” at the failure of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations to effectively deal with issues of importance to the region and other developing countries.

Heads emphasized the need for WTO members to give real expression to the commitments made at the Doha ministerial conference particularly with respect to Implementation Issues, Special and Differential Treatment and access to low cost medicines.

Heads had discussions at the summit with WTO Director General Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi.

Concern was expressed at the “slow progress” in the first phase of talks for Economic Partnership Agreements between the African, Caribbean and Pacific group of countries and the European Union.

Heads emphasized their commitment to continue engagement in the Free Trade Area of the Americas talks and noted the “fruitful” exchanges between their trade ministers and US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick just prior to the Jamaica conference. “Heads reiterated the call for a pragmatic approach to the scope of the FTAA negotiations if the completion deadline of December 2004 is to be achieved”, the communiqué said.

US ties

Touching on relations with the US, the communiqué restated concerns which were voiced in a statement prior to the end of the Jamaica summit.

In that statement, the heads had condemned the US for sanctions it imposed on six CARICOM countries because they had ratified the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court (ICC). The communiqué said that heads discussed the region’s relations with the world in the context of the profound changes occurring and noted “the weakening of the traditional international norms such as multilateralism and respect for international law”.

Heads acknowledged that the region’s friendly relations with the US had been “disrupted” in recent months by disagreements on sensitive issues and they deplored the decision by Washington to apply sanctions over the ICC dispute. They said that every effort should be made to restart dialogue with the US.

According to the communiqué, ministers of foreign affairs of the region are to meet with their Russian counterpart in September at which time a mechanism on political dialogue between CARICOM and the Russian Federation would be sealed. Heads said they also recognised the need for strengthening relations between the region and India “taking into account the shared cultures between India and a number of CARICOM states” and in this context they noted a proposal by New Delhi to create a mechanism for regular political dialogue. India has invited the CARICOM Chairman to visit as part of the process of strengthening relations.

Also approved at the summit was the creation of the Caribbean Commission for Health and Development which will formulate strategies to aid governments to better manage and finance health and health care.

CCJ

Heads reaffirmed the decision that the Caribbean Court of Justice will be inaugurated before the end of this year. Member states were urged to complete the internal legislation necessary for this. At the summit, those states in a position to do so signed a number of instruments in relation to the court.

At the summit, the Premier of Bermuda Jennifer Smith signed the Instruments of Accession making the mid-Atlantic island the 5th associate member state of CARICOM.

Among others in attendance at the summit were Chilean President Ricardo Lagos and Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon.