Officials from Member States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), began a two-day meeting of officials in St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda today to establish a timetable for the removal of restrictions affecting the application of Protocol II to the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).
In addition to measures for liberalisation of Trade in Services, Protocol II provides for the free movement of capital and selected categories of skilled persons. CARICOM nationals also enjoy the right to establish a commercial presence in all jurisdictions of the CSME. The right to establish commercial presence apply to both goods and services.
In his opening presentation, Byron Blake, Assistant Secretary-General for Regional Trade and Economic Integration, said the meeting is key to the effective implementation of the CSME. Mr. Blake emphasised that, in arriving at a timetable for the removal of existing restrictions to the implementation of Protocol II, Member States would face limited disruption to their economies.
“(The timetable) is not intended to unduly disrupt the economies of Member States,” Mr. Blake said. “We are taking stock…seeing exactly where we are, (and) to play catchup,” he said.
The meeting was also addressed by Ambassador Colin Murdoch, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Mr. Murdoch called on Member States to “galvanize our own constituencies to complete the work of this great enterprise called the CARICOM Single Market and Economy. If we don’t, we may find ourselves many years down the road seeking to recover the gains we had and let slip away.”
Lamenting on the difficulty in convening this meeting, Mr. Murdoch argued that he suspect this was so because Member States had very little real progress to report regarding the removal of restrictions.
“This dilatory pace gives ammunition to those who say that CARICOM runs the real risk of being overtaken by the major hemispheric and international trade agreements, and that the trade arrangements we have with third countries will be deeper than those we have among ourselves,” Mr. Murdoch said.
“If that happens, CARICOM would have embarked on the long march towards irrelevancy. With this in mind, our sense of duty must impel us towards greater action to sustain and develop what we have rather than putting our faith in bigger wider arrangements in which we are a largely unheard minority,” he added.
The Antigua and Barbuda meeting is the second special meeting of officials to develop proposals for programmes to remove restrictions under Protocol II. The first was held in Barbados from 12 to 13 June, 2000 at the Sam Lord’s Castle.
Antigua and Barbuda holds responsibility for Services under the quasi cabinet arrangement instituted by Heads of Government at their last Inter-Sessional Conference in St. Kitts and Nevis in March this year.
