PATTERSON
PRIME MINISTER P.J. Patterson left the island yesterday afternoon for Trinidad and Tobago to attend the 17th Inter-sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
Mr. Patterson is scheduled to give a status report on the progress of the external negotiations, including the recent Hong Kong Ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organisation. At that meeting, developing countries were able to secure an important amendment to the negotiating text of the Ministerial Declaration, effectively preventing the proposed imposition of mandatory plurilateral methods of negotiations that would supersede the voluntary bilateral methods provided under the General Agreement on Trade in Services.
Other crucial agenda items include crime and security, the conduct of external trade negotiations and developments in relation to agriculture, in particular the European Union's decision on the sugar protocol and the tariff-only approach to the marketing of bananas. Matters relating to energy, Cricket World Cup 2007 and governance within the Community are also among the agenda items.
Mr. Patterson returns to the island on Sunday. During his absence, Robert Pickersgill, Minister of Transport and Works, will be in charge of the Government.
