Six OECS Member States Adopt Economic Union

by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London

21 June 2010

The Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Chairman of the Authority of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, Denzil Douglas said at a meeting held on June 18 in a forward looking statement that member states would sign a landmark agreement to establish an economic union in the Carribean.

The agreement, in a revision to the Treaty of Basseterre, provides for the removal of trade barriers between OECS member states, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands are also associate members. Douglas said a total of six countries would sign the agreement.

The economic union aims to bolster multilateral trade in the region through the removal of tariffs to offset falls in trade with international partners.

For her part, OECS Director General, Len Ishmael said that the agreement would reinforce the resilience of member states against current and emerging challenges, within a framework of even deeper union.

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