The establishment of the legal framework for the functioning of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Single Market and Economy (CSME) looms closer with the final touches being put to the last two instruments amending the Treaty of Chaguaramas.
CARICOM Secretary-General, Edwin Carrington speaking at a press conference today 8 February 2000, said that delegates who attended the just-concluded meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED), received Protocols VIII, and IX, and have forwarded them to the next meeting of the Legal Affairs Committee for finalisation before signature by the Region’s Heads of Government.
The next meeting of the Legal Affairs Committee is scheduled to take place in Barbados on 14-15 February 2000.
Mr. Carrington remains optimistic that the final two Protocols which deal with Disputes Settlement, and Rules of Competition, Subsidies and Dumping, and Consumer Protection will be signed at this year’s Eleventh Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government scheduled for March 2000 in St. Kitts and Nevis.
In addition, the Secretary-General mentioned that Member States have signed all the other Protocols with the exception of Montserrat which is expected to sign Protocols IV, VI, and VII before the Inter-Sessional Meeting in March.
Mr. Carrington pointed out that the next major step in the process is the implementation phase, and in this regard, delegates to the Eight Meeting of COTED have proposed a mid-year meeting to examine, and resolve the major obstacles to Member States advancing the process especially with respect to Protocol II. This instrument addresses the Right of Establishment, the Right to Provide Services, and the Right to Move Capital by any CARICOM national in the Community which has been defined to include the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).
Integral to the CSME process, the Secretary-General explained, is the establishment of the machinery to settle disputes, namely the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). While this idea has been “cleared” with Heads of Government, he said, many have expressed the need for public discussion and debate on its formation, and functions.
A team of CARICOM officials shared the press conference with the Secretary-General and fielded questions from local media representatives on a range of matters including telecommunications in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), a Regional policy on Intellectual Property Rights and E-Commerce, and the environment.
