Senior trade officials have advanced preparation for the Fifty-Nineth Ministerial Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) scheduled for 27-28 November in Guyana.
COTED is a CARICOM decision-making body, which, among other things, supports the production, quality control and marketing of industrial and agricultural commodities.
A release yesterday from the CARICOM Secretariat said that the officials met virtually from 7-8 November to review and finalise regional and external matters that will be placed on the agenda of the COTED.
Assistant Secretary-General, Directorate of CARICOM Single Market and Trade, Wayne McCook set the tone for the meeting, underscoring its importance to rationalise key matters on the regional trade agenda. This includes the results of the Working Group on the review of the Community’s main trade instruments – the Common External Tariff (CET) and the Rules of Origin.
McCook urged the officials to make actionable recommendations so that the Meeting of COTED later this month, could deliver significant outcomes for the benefit of the Community.
Chair of the Meeting, Barbara Williams, Deputy National Authorising Officer, Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) Implementation Coordinator, Antigua and Barbuda said the meeting prioritised matters relating to the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) including free movement of Community nationals, the Revised Draft Policy on the Regulation of Mergers and Acquisitions, the dual role of the CARICOM Competition Commission, and the status of the Community Intellectual Property Framework.
Among the external trade relations matters on the agenda are key multilateral developments emanating from the Thirteenth World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Conference, and CARICOM-Colombia concluding negotiations for additional preferential market access, within the scope of the 1994 CARICOM-Colombia Trade, Economic and Technical Co-operation Agreement.
Scheduled for 27-28 November, the next Ministerial Meeting will be chaired by the Everly Paul Chet Greene, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Barbuda Affairs of Antigua and Barbuda.
