By CARICOM Secretariat
GEORGETOWN, Guyana – The 60th regular meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) is scheduled to take place in Georgetown, Guyana, 10-11 June, under the chairmanship of Kerrie Symmonds, minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade of Barbados.
CARICOM Secretary-General, Dr Carla Barnett and the COTED chair will provide remarks at the opening session of the meeting.
The agenda of the meeting is packed with critical trade matters including the proposed implementation of the revised Common External Tarriff (CET), progress of the Sectoral Working Group reviewing CARICOM Rules of Origin and reports from the Monitoring Mechanisms on sugar, cement and rice.
CARICOM ministers will also address compliance with the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas and decisions of COTED as CARICOM works to enhance the operations of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).
Other key discussions will centre around a draft Industrial Policy and Strategy for 2025-2030, and issues related to the free movement of Community nationals. An update will also be provided on a recently commissioned consultancy to assess the impact and potential benefits of the CSME. This study is being funded by the European Union under the 11th EDF.
Additionally, the Council will review several external trade matters, including developments at the World Trade Organization, implications of the America First Trade Policy for CARICOM trade and economic prospects, and negotiations to expand preferential market access under the Agreement on Trade, Economic and Technical Cooperation between CARICOM and the Government of Colombia.
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