47TH COTED EXAMINES IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CSME & STRATEGIES FOR FUTURE TRADE NEGOTIATIONS - MFAFT

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Minister Kamina Johnson Smith (2nd left) Imega Breese McNab (left), Executive Director, Jamaica Manufacturers Association and Richard Pandohee, Chief Executive Officer, SEPROD pause for a photo opportunity with Joseph Cox, Deputy Secretary General, CARICOM (2nd right) and Karl James, Chairman, Sugar Association of the Caribbean (SAC) (right). The meeting which will review elements of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) that can be improved on to maximise functional and operational efficiency, will run from Nov 15-16.

Senator the Honourable Kamina Johnson Smith, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, will join colleague Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Ministers at the 47th Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) in Georgetown, Guyana from November 15-16.

“This critical meeting will review elements of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) that can be improved on, in our drive to maximise functional and operational efficiency. To that end, specific policy areas in trade, the review of the Common External Tariff (CET) and the draft Programme of Work for making the CSME more effective will benefit from the focused attention of the Council,” Minister Johnson Smith informed.

The Minister also shared that the COTED will be, “further updated on the roll over agreement with the United Kingdom, which will see CARIFORUM and the UK’s trade relationship operating in the same kind of framework as obtained in the pre-BREXIT era, once the UK’s exit from the EU is formalised.”

The 47th COTED will also receive status reports on both the 10th and 11th European Development Fund (EDF) Caribbean Regional Indicative Programme.

The Jamaican delegation, led by Minister Johnson Smith, includes representatives from the Jamaica Manufacturers’ and Exporters’ Association and the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, with support from senior officials at the Foreign Ministry.

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