The Sixth Meeting of the Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM) Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) will be held at the Secretariat’s headquarters in Georgetown, Guyana from 4-5 June, 1999.
The two-day meeting of Regional Ministers responsible for trade and or economic matters will focus on a range of issues including those pertinent to agricultural development, the trade in goods and services, external trade and economic relations, and regional standards.
High on the agenda is a report on progress towards the establishment of a CARICOM Single Market and Economy of which the implementation of Protocols revising the Treaty of Chaguaramas are key.
Haiti’s membership of the Caribbean Community, trade agreements with third countries, particularly the Dominican Republic, and the issue of the European Union’s banana import regime are also significant items on the agenda.
Ministers will deliberate on the implementation of a Regional Transformation Programme for Agriculture, and examine proposals, recommendations, and studies for agri-business development. Marketing, Fisheries, Forestry Development, and other support areas such as agricultural policy, technology generation, validation and transfer will be discussed.
Under trade, progress on the implementation of programmes for the reduction of the Common External Tariff (CET), and of the revised structure of the CET will be addressed by participants.
This will be the last COTED meeting prior to the Community Council’s Meeting on 11-12 June,1999 in Guyana, and the 20th Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Community on 4-7 July, 1999 in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.
