CHRIST CHURCH, BARBADOS – A ruling handed down by World Trade Organization (WTO) Arbitrators October 27 on the proposed European Union banana tariff has met with deep shock and disappointment across the Caribbean. The Arbitrators ruled that the proposal would not maintain market access for third country or most favoured nation (MFN) suppliers.

I am pleased to welcome you on behalf of the CARICOM Secretariat and in particular the members of the Directorate of Human and Social Development. This past year has been a very active period for the Directorate and, indeed, the entire Secretariat.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Georgetown, Guyana) The Caribbean’s youth and adolescent have been identified as being most vulnerable to the growing problem of substance use and abuse.

Data put forward by the Inter-American Drug Abuse Commission, CICAD, reveal that the average age of “first-use” of drugs is approximately age ten and in many instances as low as age seven.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Georgetown, Guyana) Minister of Education, Youth and Sport of Barbados, Hon Reginald Farley today called on the Region’s policy makers to create of an enabling environment for the Region’s youth to decisively channel their views and input decision-making processes that impact their lives.

Minister Farley issued this call at the opening of the Thirteenth Meeting of the CARICOM Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) which got underway in Georgetown under the theme_ Youth in the CSME_ Perspectives, Prospects, Challenges.

I am pleased to welcome you on behalf of the CARICOM Secretariat and in particular the members of the Directorate of Human and Social Development. This past year has been a very active period for the Directorate and, indeed, the entire Secretariat. As you know, 2005 has been designated the Year of the CSME when it is expected that all Countries of the Community would have fulfilled the requirements for giving effect to the free movement of goods and services. Well we are down to the wire so to speak.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Georgetown, Guyana) St. Kitts and Nevis today became the third Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Member State to bring the CARICOM Passport into operation, making good on its promise to launch it before the end of the year. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in St. Kitts and Nevis said it launched its CARICOM Passport today and Issuance of the document to citizens of that country will begin on 14 November. On 7 January this year, Suriname was the first Member State to begin using the CARICOM Passport, followed by St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Georgetown, Guyana) Caribbean Community (CARICOM) officials responsible for human development will advance talks for the establishment of a Demand Reduction Programme for Drugs when they meet under the umbrella of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) in Guyana this week.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Georgetown, Guyana) Member States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) are making steady progress on all fronts including statistical data collection and sharing to foster the smooth functioning of the CARICOM Single Market (CSM) after its December 2005 implementation.

To this end, the Standing Committee of Caribbean Statisticians (SCCC) will convene its Thirtieth Meeting in Kingston, Jamaica from 26-28 October under the theme_ “The CSME and the Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals–The Implications for Statistics in the Region.”

As the Region embraces the theme of this year’s Worlds Standards Day “Standards for a Safer World”, we are enjoined to focus on industry best-practices, new and emerging technologies, new barriers to trade as well as emerging threats to health, safety and the environment.