The Office of Trade Negotiations and CARICOM Secretariat will host national consultations in Port-au-Prince, Haiti from April 27-29, 2011 to discuss CARICOM's external trade agreements and negotiations. The consultations aim to help Haiti maximize its trade opportunities and shape relationships with global trade partners as trade will be important for Haiti's recovery. Participants will examine issues prioritized in CARICOM's external trade agenda, including deepening awareness of the CARIFORUM-EC Economic Partnership Agreement and opportunities in the European market. Discussions will also focus on shaping trading opportunities for Haitian goods and services in the Canadian market under negotiations for a CARICOM-Canada Trade Agreement, as well as

1. OFFICE OF TRADE NEGOTIATIONS
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For Immediate Release: No. 03/2011
April 26, 2011
NATIONAL CONSULTATIONS ON CARICOM EXTERNAL TRADE TO BE HELD IN HAITI
BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS – The Haitian Bureau de Coordination et de Suivi des Accords de
la CARICOM and the CARICOM Secretariat, including the Office of Trade Negotiations,
the EPA Implementation Unit and the Office of the CARICOM-Haiti Mission, will host
national consultations in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on 27-29 April 2011.
This specific consultation will be focussed on CARICOM external trade agreements and
negotiations. Recognising that trade will be an important component in Haiti’s recovery and
development planning, the consultations are considered to be an important step towards
helping Haiti to maximize its trade opportunities and to shape strategically its relationships
with its global trade partners.
It is anticipated that during the consultations, which will to be supported, inter alia, through
financial assistance from the 9th EDF, the participants will examine the issues which have
been prioritised under the CARICOM external trade agenda.
Emphasis will be placed on deepening awareness amongst Haitian private sector
stakeholders, non-state actors (NSAs) and public sector officials on the CARIFORUM-EC
Economic Partnership Agreement. The exercise will allow the participants to become more

2. familiar with the details of the Agreement. It will also provide an opportunity for
participants to intensify the mapping of the export opportunities within the European
market, identify the challenges and concerns that will need to be resolved in order to
maximise those opportunities, as well as the various mechanisms under the Agreement, the
implementation of which would help facilitate trade with Europe.
Additionally, the consultations will facilitate discussion on shaping the trading opportunities
for Haitian goods and services within the Canadian market within the context of the
negotiation of a CARICOM-Canada Trade and Development Agreement. The participants
are expected to use the opportunity to detail more fully their offensive and defensive
interests in those negotiations.
Haiti’s position within the multilateral trade context will also be considered. With
negotiations under the Doha Development Agenda in a state of uncertainty, the participants
will discuss in some detail the implications of the state of play of the Doha Round,
particularly with respect to the safeguarding of Haiti’s interests as a least developed country
(LDC).
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