The CARICOM Secretariat in conjunction with the Caribbean Export Development Agency will be mounting a three-day workshop on Trade-in-Services at the Caribee Hotel, Barbados from Wednesday, September 9, 1998.
The workshop is aimed at assisting participants in the field of services in coming to grips with the legal requirements for Trade in Services as well as the Region’s commitments under the General Agreement on Trade-in-Services (GATS). These two elements are closely linked to the implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy in respect of the services sector.
A key element of Protocol II Amending the Treaty of Chaguaramas is the free movement of services among Member States participating in the Single Market and Economy. This Protocol entered into force provisionally in July 1998 with the final signatory being Montserrat and the confirmation of the date of signature of Suriname.
Two papers are down for discussion at the workshop. A paper on the Legal Regime for Trade in Services has been prepared by Professor Ralph Carnegie and Mr David Thompson while a study on the Caribbean Community’s World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Commitments with respect to services has been undertaken by the CARICOM Secretariat.
Participants will include, lawyers, members of the private sector, professional consultants, public sector representatives at the technical level as well as officials from regional organisations including the Caribbean Development Bank and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States.
This is the second workshop on trade-in- services organised by the Secretariat following one in Jamaica in July 1997. International agencies participating in this week’s exercise include the WTO and the United Nations Development Programme.
Barbados Minister of International Trade and Business, Senator Phillip Goddard will deliver the opening address on Wednesday at which statements will also be made by CARICOM’s Assistant Secretary-General Regional Trade and Economic Integration, Mr Byron Blake and the Executive Director of CEDA, Mr Earle Baccus.
