Caricom says the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Commission and Carifourm will be signed in July and it has outlined a number of steps that need to be taken to facilitate implementation.
In a press release the Secretariat said ministers decided on the said date following discussions at the 26th Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) which was recently held in Antigua and Barbuda. The ministers considered possible dates for the signing and the provisional application of the Agreement and reported that they were in consultations with the EC on the subject. The EPA negotiation concluded in December and the members of the Caribbean Forum of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (Cariforum) are in the process of reviewing the text prior to signature.
The COTED held discussions on the measures that needed to be in place for implementing the EPA and Caricom has “prepared a road map outlining in broad terms what needed to be done.” Focus is now placed on the commitments at the level of member states, the release said, and the ministers have agreed that national coordinators needed to be identified to advance the process.
