Consequent upon their decision to absorb the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM) into the Caricom Secretariat, Caricom Heads meeting in Georgetown last week have named Ambassador Gail Mathurin to head up the new body.

Gail Mathurin

According to the communiqué issued after the Georgetown July 2-5 meeting, the CRNM has been redesignated the Office of Trade Negotiations. Mathurin, a Jamaican, succeeds Trinidadian Henry Gill who resigned after the decision to incorporate the CRNM was announced.

President Bharrat Jagdeo had led the criticism of the CRNM over the manner in which the Economic Partnership Agreement had been concluded between Cariforum and the European Commission and culminated in the decision to reel in the CRNM.

The communiqué said that the heads also reaffirmed their commitment to securing a trade and development agreement with Canada.

Heads also agreed to back Trinidad and Tobago in its pursuit of bilateral relations with the US “in relation to certain products of export interest to that member state”.

The Heads also agreed to strengthen efforts to persuade the European Union of the need for a smaller reduction of the Most Favoured Nation tariff for bananas and a longer period for its implementation.

According to the communiqué “They also agreed to take concerted action at the highest political level of the European Union, consistent with other ACP banana exporting countries, to obtain a flexible, front-loaded and speedily disbursed financial package that fully takes into account the losses in export earnings and adjustment costs that will be incurred by banana exporting countries”.