Caribbean Report 31-01-1992

Abstract

The Trinidad and Tobago government decides to cancel its scheduled hosting of Carifesta, due to budgetary constraints. There is a call for a common position on the Common Extenal Tariff (CET) by the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (O.E.C.S.) and the complications of this to the implementation of the CET is highlighted. The chairman of the O.E.C.S., Nicholas Brathwaite, says the present tariff structure of the CET is against the best interest of the region. There is a report on the proposal to be presented by the Caricom secretariat on the attempt to create a single market and the Director of Trade and Agriculture, Haydon Blades of the Gerogetown based Secretariat is inteviewed. He says that the Caricom treaty is too rigid and that member states may respond to a structure that offers a greater degree of choice. There are reports also on the statements made by three leading figures of Caricom which it is said cast a shadow over attempts to create a truly dynamic regional integration movement. An assesment is made of these statements by Barbadian atorney, Oliver Jackman.

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Table of Contents

1. Headlines (00:00-00:34)
2. Trinidad and Tobago's Minister of Culture, Joan Yuille-Williams speaks in Parliament on the decision by the Trinidad and Tobago government to cancel Carifesta which was scheduled for August(00:35-01:08)
3. Report on the official decision to call off Carifesta due to the shortage of funds as announced by the Minister, and interview with Leroy Clarke, one of the artiste preparing for Carifesta, on his reaction to the cancelllation of the festival (01:09-04:11)
4. Report on the call for a common position on the Common External Tariff (CET) by the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and the effect of further complicating plans of implementing the CET (04:12-04:45)
5. Airing of views of Grenadian Prime Minister and chairman of OECS, Nicholas Brathwaite who says the present tariff structure of the CET is against the best interest of the sub-region. He says the CET raises the general level of protection in the OECS which runs counter to an OECS export oriented strategy for development and also to world trends in trade liberalization (04:46-05:29)
6. Report that the CAIC's, Pat Thompson feelings that any suggestion of a separate CET for the OECS and the rest of Caricom is not practical as Caricom would need to move quickly to address this concern. Thompson's views are aired (05:30-06:36)
7. Report on the proposal to be presented by the Caricom secretariat to the Council of Ministers next month designed to inject a new degree of flexibility into the attempt to create a single market (06:37-07:01)
8. Sandra Baptiste interviews Hayden Blades, Director of Trade and Agriculture of the Georgetown based secretariat who believes that the Caricom treaty is too rigid and that member states may respond to a structure that offers a greater degree of choice (07:02-08:49)
9. Report on the statements by Sir Shridath Ramphal, chairman of the West Indian Commission, Dame Eugenia Charles, Dominica's Prime Minister and current Caricom chairman, Dr. Kennedy Simmons, three prominant Caricom figures which cast a shadow over attempts to create a truly dynamic regional integration movement (8:50-09:51
10. Interview with Barbadian Oliver Jackman, attorney at law, former Korea diplomatic, past president of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and a columnist with the nation newspaper on the conflicting views of the statements by the three leading Caricom figures and what people in the region are to make of these statements (09:52-14:27)
11. Hugh Crosskill ends report (14:28-14:55)

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