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| The new trade deal which member states of the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) - the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Dominican Republic - completed negotiations on last December will now be signed in July instead of by the end of June. (File photo) | |
GEORGETOWN, Guyana, May 14, 2008 - The signing of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the Caribbean and the European Union has been pushed back another month.
The new trade deal which member states of the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) - the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Dominican Republic - completed negotiations on last December will now be signed in July instead of by the end of June.
No reason was given by the CARICOM Secretariat which announced the change in a statement.
However, it indicated that the decision to delay the signing was taken by regional ministers attending the Twenty-Sixth Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) which wrapped up in Antigua and Barbuda over the weekend.
"Ministers considered possible dates for signing and the provisional application of the Agreement and reported they were in consultations with the EC (European Commission) on the subject," the statement said.
"The CARICOM Secretariat has prepared a road map outlining in broad terms what needed to be done, and the focus is now placed on the commitments at the level of Member States," it added, noting that the ministers also agreed on the need to identify national coordinators to move the process forward.
The EPA was also discussed at the recent Eleventh Meeting of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR).
"The COFCOR emphasised that the full implementation of the EPA was critical to the achievement of its objectives," a CARICOM release indicated.
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