After a special caucus on the crime that has been plaguing the region, Caricom Heads at their February 18-19 intersessional conference in Haiti adopted a Regional Crime and Security Strategy and again pressed the United States to help stem the flow of illicit arms to the region.
The Heads convened a special Caucus to focus on both law enforcement and prevention issues given the importance of crime and security to the Region and its effects on national and regional development. The lead presentation was made by Trinidadian Prime Minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar. A communiqué out of the meeting said that a significant feature of the Caucus was the engagement of the Heads with special guest, US Attorney-General Honourable Eric Holder Jr who reiterated the US’s interest in focused engagement of the Region on Crime and Security. “His presentation acknowledged that the Caribbean was being used as a transit corridor for illicit drugs and the accompanying proliferation of small arms. Heads of Government reiterated their call for the US to stem the illicit flow of small arms into the Region,” the communiqué said.
The conference adopted a Regional Crime and Security Strategy which addresses many issues challenging member states and which provides a common platform from which the Region could advance its fight against ills such as illicit trafficking, gang and youth violence, terrorism, cyber security while simultaneously addressing crime prevention.
Reform Process in Caricom
The Conference welcomed the commencement of the Change Process in the Community with the presence of the Change Facilitation team to support Secretary-General Irwin La Rocque as he leads the change process.
The Heads agreed to designate a “Change Driver” at the level of a senior official in member states with key deliverables of coordinating and facilitating the change process at the national level, in the first instance, and then as facilitators of change following the adoption of the Strategic Plan.
The Arms Trade Treaty
The Heads also expressed grave concern over the unregulated trade in conventional weapons, including small arms and light weapons and their ammunition, “which has exacted an unbearable toll on the security and the well-being of our citizenry, and the development of our States.”
They reaffirmed that an Arms Trade Treaty was necessary to close those loopholes which allow the diversion of weapons from the legal trade to the illicit market through the adoption of commonly agreed global standards, which would be backed-up by a legally binding set of rules.
FATCA
The Conference was updated on the level of preparedness of regional financial institutions for the application of the United States Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).
The Task Force established to advise on compliance was mandated to further review the national legislation of member states in the light of the fact that FATCA requirements were contrary to fundamental principles contained in existing legislation. The meeting also noted the challenges, in terms of capacity and financial resources involved with moving towards compliance with the Act and recognised that there was need for both technical and financial assistance.
Interpretation
At the Thirty-Second Regular Meeting of the Con-ference of Heads of Govern-ment, Haitian President Michel Martelly had put forward the request that French be adopted as one of the official and working languages of the Community. Heads of Government had mandated the Caricom Secretariat to conduct a study on the implications of introducing interpretation and translation services for meetings of the Organs of the Community. “Based on that mandate, an assessment was commissioned by the Secretariat which provided an estimate of the budgetary implications of such a measure,” the communiqué said, adding that the Heads agreed to introduce French interpretation at meetings of the Conference.
WTO gaming case
Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister, Baldwin Spencer, updated the Confer-ence on the trade dispute at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) between his country and the United States on the question of internet gaming and the recent authorization from the WTO Dispute Settlement Body to suspend concessions and other obligations between the two countries under the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Pro-perty Rights (TRIPS) Agree-ment relating to copyrights, patents, trademarks and related rights.
The Conference issued a statement affirming the Caribbean Community’s full support for Antigua and Barbuda in its fight to obtain US compliance with the ruling of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body on the subject of cross-border provision of gambling and betting services.
The Conference further urges the US to settle the dispute with Antigua and Bar-buda by honouring its obligations to respect international rules and by complying with the decision of the WTO in this matter. “Those rules apply to all countries whether small, large, rich or poor. All countries must abide by their obligations within the Community of Nations in the WTO,” the statement said.
