First EPA trade meeting to focus on border taxes, Haiti

Senior Caribbean and European officials will meet in Barbados in June for the first meeting of the CARIFORUM-European Union Trade and Development Committee.

The meeting is a requirement of the Economic Partnership Agreement.

"Its importance is not lost on either the CARIFORUM or EU side," said head of the EPA Implementation Unit in the CARICOM Secretariat, Branford Isaacs.

"Information to be provided is expected to relate to border taxes which CARIFORUM states are permitted to maintain for an agreed period, with respect to goods traded under the CARIFORUM-EU EPA," a CARICOM Secretariat statement said.

The committee will decide on the incorporation of the commitments of The Bahamas on Trade in Services under the agreement, and consider an EU proposal for a special committee on trade and investment for Haiti over the June 9-10 talks in Bridgetown.

"Some of the varied interactions, in recent months, between the EPA Implementation Unit and CARIFORUM States contributed to preparatory efforts to develop CARIFORUM positions ahead of the planned first meeting of the Trade and Development Committee," said Caricom.

Article 230 of the CARIFORUM-EU EPA deals with the establishment of the Trade and Development Committee, whose functions include supervision of and responsibility for the implementation and proper application of the provisions of the agreement.

These functions extend to the provision of assistance to the Joint CARIFORUM-EU Council in the performance of its functions regarding development cooperation.

The Trade and Development Committee is the second highest institution, after the Joint Council, which met in inaugural session in May 2010.

The EPA was signed between the CARIFORUM countries and the European Union in 2008.

- CMC