It is now left to President Bharrat Jagdeo and Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding to find a solution to the rice stalemate between the two countries, following Caricom’s Council for Trade and Economic Development’s (COTED) non-approval of Jamaica’s request for a waiver on the Common External Tariff (CET).
Caricom Assistant Secre-tary- General, Ambas-sador Irwin La Rocque at the closure of the recent COTED meet in Antigua and Barbuda announced that the heads would hold consultations on the issue and then inform Secretary-General Edwin Carrington on the outcome.
A release from the Caricom Secretariat said the issue came up for discussion at the recently concluded 26th COTED meeting in Antigua and Barbuda. Discussions in this regard centred on Jamaica’s need for a stock of rice and Guyana’s ability to supply the commodity.
The statement said Jamaica had requested a suspension of the CET to import rice from extra-regional sources, but Guyana had indicated it could supply Jamaica’s demand for the commodity. Suriname, which also produces and exports rice, indicated its ability to supply to Jamaica, but was prepared to agree to the suspension of the CET as a special consideration of Jamaica’s emergency needs.
Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud reserved comment on the issue yesterday saying he did not want to prejudice any discussions between the two heads. However, he said follow- up work in this regard would be done at the special COTED meeting to be held in Guyana later this month. That meeting will also examine the region’s response to the rising food prices and food production in the context of poverty and the rising cost of living.
Meanwhile, Caricom said that with regard to ensuring the effectiveness of the monitoring mechanism for rice, member states were urged to submit data on the production, import and export of rice and the application of the CET. The reports, covering the periods January to June and July to December are to be submitted twice yearly.
According to the release too, member states have also agreed to continued discussions towards the resolution of issues relating to the import of flour by Antigua and Barbuda under the provisions of Article 164 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. In accordance with a mandate from the Twenty-Fourth Special COTED, Carrington delivered to the meeting a report based on discussions with Antigua and Barbuda, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada on the supply price of flour. Antigua and Barbuda is currently importing flour from Guyana and is continuing to receive supplies from St Vincent and the Grenadines.
The meeting also mandated Carrington to bring the parties together to seek a resolution on the modalities for determining the price of flour.
Although COTED recognized the recent increases in the international price for wheat, several member states expressed concern about the rising cost of flour and the implications for the cost of living, the statement said.
