The Office of Trade Negotiations is undertaking preparations for a third round of negotiations between CARICOM and Canada, including hosting a meeting of the Task Force on Development to provide recommendations on CARICOM's negotiating position regarding the treatment of development. The OTN has also provided technical assistance to several CARICOM countries for national consultations on the negotiations and met with regional non-state actors to brief them on the negotiations and seek input. In advance of the next COTED meeting, the OTN will convene technical working groups to further refine CARICOM's positions for the upcoming negotiation round.

1. OTN Press/News Releases and Features are available on the OTN’s website at www.crnm.org
Contact:
Marsha Drakes, Tel: (246) 430-1678
marsha.drakes@crnm.org
For Immediate Release: No. 01/2010
October 22, 2010
PREPARATIONS TOWARDS A THIRD ROUND WITH CANADA
BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS – The Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) of the CARICOM
Secretariat is undertaking technical preparations in anticipation of a third Round of
negotiations between CARICOM and Canada.
As part of the regional preparations, the OTN hosted the first Meeting of the Task Force on
Development. The two-day meeting which started September 6, 2010, took place in
Barbados. The Task Force, which was established by the Council for Trade and Economic
Development (COTED) is expected to perform an ongoing advisory role in the further
development of recommendations for the refinement of CARICOM’s position on the
treatment of development in the negotiations with Canada.
During the Meeting, the Task Force provided specific and succinct recommendations on the
development of a strategy to achieve the mandate set by the CARICOM Heads of
Government. Furthermore, under the guidance of the OTN, the Task Force provided
suggestions on the further refinement of member states’ and OTN’s draft proposals on the
treatment of development, as well as the OTN draft Chapter on Development. These
recommendations are to be forwarded for the consideration of the member states and the
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2. College of Negotiators. Furthermore, these will be considered by the COTED for approval
at its next scheduled meeting which will begin on November 30, 2010.
Since the last Round in March 2010, national consultations on the trade negotiations have
intensified within CARICOM. In this regard, the OTN has provided technical assistance to
the governments of Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, St. Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, Dominica,
and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Consultations within the OECS countries were made
possible through OTN collaboration with the OECS Secretariat.
Those consultations facilitated in-depth discussion on the proposed Agreement, with a focus
on CARICOM’s and Canada’s negotiating proposals and draft text. The primary purpose of
these consultations was to increase the awareness of stakeholders from the private and
public sectors about the negotiations for a CARICOM-Canada Trade and Development
Agreement and to seek further stakeholder input into the refinement of regional negotiating
positions, specific proposals and the drafting of text.
In this context, the OECS Secretariat, with the support of the Commonwealth Hubs and
Spokes Project has undertaken work in the preparation of initial offers for goods for
individual OECS countries and a draft OECS harmonized services schedule.
In support of sustaining the involvement of regional stakeholders in regional consultative
processes with respect to the negotiations, the OTN also met with regional non-state actor
(NSA) organisations and Civil Society organisations (CSOs) on September 16-17 2010 in
Barbados. During the meeting, which was convened to build consensus around a formal
standing arrangement for future consultations with NSAs and CSOs on trade negotiations
and trade-related issues, the participants were briefed on the state of play of the CARICOM-
Canada negotiations and other negotiations of interest, including the Doha Round.
In advance of the COTED Meeting, the Technical Working Groups (TWGs) on Legal and
Institutional Issues, Market Access (Goods), as well as on Services and Investment will be
convened. The upcoming TWGs are expected to assist the CARICOM negotiators in the
further refinement of CARICOM’s technical positions for the next Round. The TWG on
Services an Investment will run October 25-29, 2010, while the TWG on Market Access will
be convened on Thursday and Friday of that week. The TWG on Legal and Institutional
issues is expected to convene on November 1-2, 2010.
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