Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Foreign Trade

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Three Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Ministerial Councils will meet this week as the Community intensifies its preparations for the 29th Regular Meeting of the Heads of Government to be held in Antigua and Barbuda in July.

The Eleventh Meeting of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR) and the Twenty-Sixth Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on Trade will be convened in Antigua and Barbuda, while the Tenth Meeting of the Legal Affairs Committee (LAC) will be held in Saint Lucia.

High on the agenda of the COFCOR Meeting on 8-9 May are a follow-up of the Conference on the Caribbean held in Washington DC, USA in 2007 and discussions on the upcoming New York Conference on the Caribbean scheduled for June 2008. Issues related to Climate Change, in particular a Community Foreign Policy Strategy resulting from the outcome of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change held in Bali, Indonesia last December, preparations for summit meetings involving the Heads of Government, including two to be hosted by Trinidad and Tobago next year, will also be addressed at the Meeting. Trinidad and Tobago will next year host the Fifth Summit of the Americas and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting while the Heads of Government are expected to meet with their counterparts of Spain and Canada later this year among other summit meetings scheduled for the rest of the year.

The COFCOR will look at strategies to protect the Community's interests in the changing global political environment including CARICOM relations with International and Hemispheric Agencies.

With respect to its responsibilities for Community Relations, the Council will receive a report on the operations of the CARICOM Representation Office in Haiti which was re-opened last October with assistance from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

The LAC, comprised of Attorneys-General or Ministers responsible for Legal Affairs of CARICOM Member States, will meet on 9 May in Saint Lucia. That meeting will review legislation and legal instruments including those in respect of security arrangements in keeping with the decision of the Heads of Government at their 13th Special Meeting held in Port of Spain last April, which focused on Crime and Security.

The instruments for review by the LAC include the drafts of the:

CARICOM Maritime and Airspace Security Cooperation Agreement
CARICOM Arrest Warrant Treaty
Agreement respecting the Operation of the CARICOM Development Fund (CDF),
Agreement Establishing the Caribbean Aviation Safety and Security Oversight System (CASSOS)
Agreement Establishing the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA)
CARICOM Investment Code
Biological Weapons Convention Bill, 2008

At the Special Meeting of COTED, which convenes on 10 May in Antigua and Barbuda there will be discussions on the process leading to the signing and provisional application of the European Union/CARIFORUM Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and the way forward regarding its implementation. The EPA's effect on Regional Integration is also scheduled to be discussed. The EPA negotiation was concluded last December and Member States of CARIFORUM are in the process of reviewing the text prior to a formal signing.

Trade in Goods; and External Relations are also on the agenda of the Meeting. With regard to external relations, the Meeting will discuss preparations for CARICOM-Canada Trade Negotiations. WTO issues as well as CARICOM-US Trade Relations are also on the agenda.

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