(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Haitian Bureau de Coordination et de Suivi des Accords de la CARICOM and the CARICOM Secretariat, including the Office of Trade Negotiations, the EPA Implementation Unit and the Office of the CARICOM-Haiti Mission, will host national consultations in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on 27-29 April 2011.

This specific consultation will be focussed on CARICOM external trade agreements and negotiations. Recognising that trade will be an important component in Haiti’s recovery and development planning, the consultations are considered to be an important step towards helping Haiti to maximize its trade opportunities and to shape strategically its relationships with its global trade partners.

It is anticipated that during the consultations, which will be supported, inter alia, through financial assistance from the 9th EDF, the participants will examine the issues which have been prioritised under the CARICOM external trade agenda.

Emphasis will be placed on deepening awareness amongst Haitian private sector stakeholders, non-state actors (NSAs) and public sector officials on the CARIFORUM-EC Economic Partnership Agreement. The exercise will allow the participants to become more familiar with the details of the Agreement. It will also provide an opportunity for participants to intensify the mapping of the export opportunities within the European market, identify the challenges and concerns that will need to be resolved in order to maximise those opportunities, as well as the various mechanisms under the Agreement, the implementation of which would help facilitate trade with Europe.

Additionally, the consultations will facilitate discussion on shaping the trading opportunities for Haitian goods and services within the Canadian market within the context of the negotiation of a CARICOM-Canada Trade and Development Agreement. The participants are expected to use the opportunity to detail more fully their offensive and defensive interests in those negotiations.

Haiti’s position within the multilateral trade context will also be considered. With negotiations under the Doha Development Agenda in a state of uncertainty, the participants will discuss in some detail the implications of the state of play of the Doha Round, particularly with respect to the safeguarding of Haiti’s interests as a least developed country (LDC).

CONTACT: piu@caricom.org