ISDS Case Map
CARICOM
Tempers flare as Caricom trade negotiators and the European Commission work with an October 15 deadline to initial an EU-Caribbean EPA
Caribbean trade and political officials are fuming at the European Union's decision last Friday to scrap a 32-year-old agreement with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) sugar-exporting countries, describing the action as "a slap in the face" of the region.
As September draws to a close, the likelihood diminishes that an economic partnership agreement (EPA) is achievable this year between the European Union and the Caribbean.
Countries from Central America and the Caribbean will come together to discuss a free trade agreement
The Caribbean's chief trade negotiator says discussions on a draft for a new free trade agreement between Canada and the 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM) will begin later this year.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to announce that Canada will begin negotiating a free-trade agreement with the 15 countries of the Caribbean Community.
A disagreement among the members of CARIFORUM, which represents the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Dominican Republic, could cause a delay in the group completing negotiations on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).
The Bahamas stands to lose just under ten percent of tariff revenue as a result of the complete trade liberalization with the hemisphere and the United States, according to a report on Caribbean development in the 21st century compiled by the Caribbean Country Management Unit of the World Bank.
Caribbean leaders have virtually secured an agreement from President Bush and many of the movers and shakers on Capitol Hill that they would work together, not only to extend the duty free provisions of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act and the benefits of the trade promotion legislation, but modernise and expand their partnership to include services and other vital economic sectors.
CARICOM has drawn a direct link between the Economic Partnership Agreement [EPA] that it is negotiating with the European Union and a similar pact for which it is lobbying with the United States of America.
