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'Weighty matters' for CSM audit
by Daily Nation
Posted: Oct 26, 2009 11:58 UTC
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CARIBBEAN - The audit of the CARICOM Single Market was high on the agenda of the 28th meeting of the Caribbean Council for Trade Development (COTED), which came off at the Accra Beach Hotel recently.
During his opening remarks CARICOM (Caribbean Community) secretary general Edwin Carrington said the audit, which was requested by the Heads of Government in July 2008, involved the state of implementation of the single market.
"The CARICOM Single Market has been in operation for close to four years now, and this thorough and detailed assessment of where we are in its implementation should provide the type of information needed to guide and shape the future of the single economy," Carrington stated.
Carrington said at least two of the seven "substantive items" on the agenda had the potential to "significantly influence the future path of our community" depending on the recommendations and decisions that were made.
The various ministers from member countries were also to determine the future operations of the council, for which Carrington said the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) provided guidance.
He was referring to the August 10 judgement in the case of Trinidad Cement Limited versus the Caribbean Community.
It found that aspects of the established practice of approving suspensions of the common external tariff by COTED and the secretary general needed to be improved.
"That judgement signalled the need for this council and possibly all the community councils, to take a new look at their current operational procedures. We are therefore in somewhat of a new era given the legal implications for actions and decisions taken by our councils - and even by the secretary general. In a society which subscribes to the rule of law, that is as it should be," Carrington observed.
In addition to the domestic matters, the meeting also looked at preparations for negotiations with Canada for a trade and development agreement, as well as formulating a strategy for the region's approach to the World Trade Organisation meeting in Geneva on November 30.
"Honourable ministers, it is clear that there are weighty matters for you to consider, and with that in mind it demands of us to ensure that at the end of the day, the decisions and recommendations made are such that they will direct the community onto a path that is highly beneficial to the people of the Caribbean community," he stated. (YB)
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