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Caribbean


July deadline for Carib/Europe economic negotiations
All unresolved aspects of the EU-Caribbean EPA negotiations have to be completed at least in outline by the end of July 2007
EU: fourth phase agenda with Caribbean EPA passed
The meeting of Caribbean Ministers with Europe’s Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson resulted in the agreement of the agenda for the fourth phase of negotiations of the EPA (Economic Partnership Agreement). The main objective of this phase is to reconcile texts of previous phases.
Unequal partners
This paper by Claire Godfrey provides a wide-ranging look at the many problems with the EPAs, and investigates how these could impact on the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries’ future development.
Time running out on European trade pacts
When European and Caribbean Ministers meet in Brussels in November, there will be an urgent need to reach an understanding on what is achievable.
Overview of bilateral free trade and investment agreements
A general overview of free trade agreements and bilateral investment treaties that have been signed or are being negotiated all over the world. Organised by region, it provides a snapshot of the many processes currently under way, some of the controversies they raise and opposition movements against these agreements.
Commentary - Caribbean frustrated with Europe
To the incomprehension of some in Brussels, the relationship between the Caribbean and the European Commission has now reached the level of confrontation over the development orientation of economic partnership agreements (EPAs).
Europeans seek integration of the Dominican Republic into the Caribbean
One of the little understood aspects of the negotiations for an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Europe is that it requires the determination of which nations constitute the region.
EU-Latin America: Doubts arise over May summit
The European Commission’s objective is to ’’establish an enhanced partnership through a network of association agreements (including free trade agreements) involving all the countries of the [Latin America and Caribbean] region and liable to contribute to the integration of the region as a whole.’’
Farmers plan to protest EPA talks
Farmers from the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean states have expressed interest in holding some form of action similar to that at the launch of the Economic Partnership Agreement in St. Lucia last September.
Barbados: RNM conducting study on FTA
The Barbados-based Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM) says it is conducting a study to inform Caribbean Community (CARICOM) states of the merits of negotiating a Free Trade Area (FTA) with the United States.
Caribbean welcomes single market
Six nations - Jamaica, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago - became the first full members of the Caribbean Single Market Economy as the treaty went into effect on 1 January.
Trade liberalisation without co-operation a no-no
William Jefferson Clinton once said that “the opposition to globalisation in the world is rooted in people who feel left out, left behind and stepped on in other countries.” Apparently, having accepted our status as doormats, the developing world has once again sent our highest authorities to the other end of the world to continue to hammer out a trade deal that maintains our city-mouse/country-mouse dynamic.
Reciprocal investment protection
The Heads of State and/or Government of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), during the Panama Summit held in July of this year, recognised in its Declaration, “the importance of having a Framework Agreement for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments among ACS members, an instrument that will help to promote, protect and confer legal certainty on investments ...”
Protests in St Lucia against EU negotiators
Farmers from across the Caribbean took to the streets of the St Lucian capital, Castries on Friday to picket top European Union negotiators, who were meeting on the island.
EU, Caribbean begins new round of trade talks
EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson is in St Lucia today to launch the third phase of an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations between the European Union and the Caribbean region.
Planned protest in St Lucia against EU negotiators
A mass demonstration — “Operation Get Up, Stand Up”, in support of the region’s vital banana industry — has been planned for St Lucia to coincide with an important meeting of top European Union negotiators.
Caribbean: Trade winds gusting as region faces WTO meet
Recent developments in international trade highlight the difficulties facing the 15-member Caribbean Community (Caricom) as it prepares for a key World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial meeting in Hong Kong this December.
Europe: support for change carries agendas
As 2005 proceeds, some Caribbean nations may find themselves faced with an unusually specific strategic choice: Europe may suggest the need to consider the relative weight they intend to give to the development of sectors such as tourism in preference to the role presently afforded to traditional agriculture.
CARICOM considers FTA with US, Canada
As the outlook for the Free Trade Area of the Americas continues to be shrouded in uncertainty, CARICOM is looking to bilateral Free Trade Agreements as a means of improving market access for countries in the region.