Colleagues,

Like all previous meetings of CARICOM Stakeholders on Sugar, our Third Meeting comes at another critical juncture in the ongoing Sugar Reform process, that is, on the eve of an important meeting of the EU Agricultural Council scheduled to be held on 20-21 February 2006.

That meeting is likely to deliberate on the level of financial support that will be extended to ACP sugar supplying States for their Action Plans on Accompanying Measures.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) A six member team from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) will travel to Haiti on Saturday 4th February, to observe the first round of next Tuesday’s presidential and legislative elections.

The team will be headed by Jamaica’s former Director of Elections, Mr. Noel Lee, and will include observers from other Member States.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Governments of the United Kingdom (UK) and Italy along with the European Union (EU) have sent congratulatory messages to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) on the occasion of the recent launch of the CARICOM Single Market.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Seventeenth Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) will convene in Trinidad and Tobago from 9-10 February.

High on the agenda for deliberation among Heads of Government are issues related to the CARICOM Single Market, including the completion of arrangements for participation by Member States, and to bring the Development Fund into operation.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas Establishing the Caribbean Community Including the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) sets out the framework for the operation of the Single Market and will undergird the activities of participating Member States.