CHRIST CHURCH, BARBADOS – “It is with a measure of disappointment that on the eve of my departure from office as Prime Minister of Jamaica and Chairman of the Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on External Negotiations of CARICOM, the FTAA – a central, and probably the most important element of our collective vision - has faltered on the rock of political will.” These were the sentiments of the Prime Minister of Jamaica, Most Hon. P. J. Patterson, who this afternoon addressed a Special Session of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington, D.C..
Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Secretariat
CHRIST CHURCH, BARBADOS – Stalled for over eighteen months now, Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) talks were brought back into the spotlight this week, by a meeting of FTAA Senior Trade Officials in Puebla, Mexico, August 25. At the meeting, CARICOM tabled a proposal – which received support - for all FTAA countries to call on the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) Co-Chairs to convene a one and a half to two-day TNC meeting prior to the IV Summit of the Americas (to be held on November 4 to 5, 2005 in Mar del Plata, Argentina).
INFORMAL PUEBLA MEETING A POSSIBLE ‘LIFE-LINE’ FOR STALLED FTAA TALKS CHRIST CHURCH, BARBADOS – Senior Trade Officials from several Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) countries will gather in Puebla, Mexico Thursday August 25 to discuss future funding arrangements for the Americas-wide trade talks. The informal meeting is being convened by the Government of Mexico, which currently hosts the temporary FTAA Administrative Secretariat located in Puebla City.
FTAA CO-CHAIRS CANCEL MEETING, AGAIN CHRIST CHURCH, BARBADOS – A meeting of Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) Co-Chairs that was to have been convened yesterday (May 19) has been cancelled. Having been notified of this latest cancellation, Heads of Delegations were informed that a date had not been identified for a future meeting of Co-Chairs.
CARICOM REAFFIRMS INTEREST IN FTAA CHRIST CHURCH, BARBADOS – “CARICOM Countries are prepared for the possible resumption of Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations.” This according to the Director-General of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM), Ambassador Dr. Richard Bernal. “The Region is actively positioning itself to re-shape the ‘vision’ of the FTAA, in accordance with Regional development goals and priorities,” he added.
CHILE RALLIES BEHIND PORT-OF-SPAIN, FRONT-RUNNER IN SECRETARIAT RACE
CHRIST CHURCH, BARBADOS - Port-of-Spain has formally secured the backing of Chile, in connection with CARICOM’s bid for the Permanent Secretariat of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).
Chile is the latest country to signal its endorsement of Port-of-Spain. Recently, Port-of-Spain received the backing of Peru.
CHRIST CHURCH, BARBADOS – The Director-General of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM), Ambassador Dr. Richard Bernal, met with The Honourable Patrick Manning, Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, in Port of Spain today.
Ambassador Bernal and the Prime Minister had an exchange of views on the status of negotiations across the three major external trade negotiating theatres the region is involved in; namely, the World Trade Organization (WTO), Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and CARIFORUM-European Union (EU) Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).
CHRIST CHURCH, BARBADOS – A ‘CARICOM Meeting on Smaller Economies Issues in the FTAA & Preparatory Meeting for the CARICOM Sub-regional Round Table’ was held in Barbados, June 7 to 8. The Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM) provided an update to the meeting on the status of Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) talks and formal/informal discussions at the level of the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) regarding the scope and structure of negotiations, pursuant to the Miami Ministerial mandates.
CHRIST CHURCH, BARBADOS – The Director-General of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM), Ambassador Dr. Richard Bernal, called for an enhancement of the economic partnership between CARICOM and the United States, “based on interdependence and mutuality of benefits”. He made these remarks today at a forum organized and hosted by the Inter-American Economic Council (IAEC), in Miami.
CHRIST CHURCH, BARBADOS – The Seventeenth Meeting of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) was not reconvened as previously scheduled, on March 18 to 19. A decision has been taken to postpone the TNC. The decision came at the close of an Informal Meeting of FTAA Vice-Ministers (from selected countries), held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, March 9 to 10. The announcement was revealed in a March 10 joint communiqué, issued by the TNC Co-Chairs. The TNC will resume in Puebla, Mexico, April 22 to 23.