To this end, a Technical Working Group is to meet shortly to finalise the region’s Negotiating Brief, to be presented for approval at a Special Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) prior to the first negotiating session with Canada, which should take place before the end of July.

Irwin LaRocque, Assistant Secretary-General Trade and Economic Integration (TEI) said that during “fruitful” discussions at the Twenty-Sixth Special Meeting of the COTED on Trade in Antigua and Barbuda on Saturday 10th May, ministers stressed that any negotiations with Canada must have a strong development component.

The ministers, he continued, also recognized and agreed that there was a need for the negotiating structure to allow for political engagement between CARICOM ministers and their Canadian counterparts on the negotiations.

At the day-long meeting, a paper was presented on the region’s position on the upcoming mini-ministerial of the Doha Development Round. A Technical Working Group is to meet urgently to refine the Community’s Negotiating Brief and to highlight the Region’s core areas of interest.

With regard to CARICOM-US trade relations, the ministers reiterated the need for the US to extend the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA).

In that regard, the ministers recognized the efforts being made by Congressman Charles Rangel, Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee of the US House of Representatives. During the conference on the Caribbean last June, President George W. Bush and Congressman Rangel made a commitment to CARICOM to work on the extension of the CBTPA.

The COTED also discussed the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement between the US and CARICOM.

Ministers additionally agreed to the prioritization of the scheduling for external trade negotiations.

Based on the requests and commitments to engage in trade negotiations on the one hand, and capacity limitations at national and regional levels on the other, the ministers agreed on the completion of outstanding negotiations before taking on board new ones.