. /.  RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/REG155/M/3 
15 May 2006 
 (06-2353) 
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements 
Forty-Second Session  
 
 
 
EXAMINATION OF THE CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY AND COMMON MARKET 
(CARICOM), SERVICES 
 
Note on the Meeting of 3 April 2006  
 
Chairman:  Mr. O. Camara (Senegal) 
  
1. The meeting was convened in document WTO/AIR/2786/Rev.1. 
2. Under Agenda Item C.IV of its 42
nd Session, the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements 
(hereinafter CRTA or the Committee) took up the third round of examination of the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM), Services. 
3. The Chairman
 noted that the proceedings of the first and second rounds of examination of 
CARICOM, Services, which had taken place in Octobe r  2004 and January 2006, had been distributed 
in documents WT/REG155/M/1 and WT/REG155/M/2 and Corr.1.  Since then, the Parties had 
provided replies to answers put forward by dele gations, which had been circulated in document 
WT/REG155/5.  Given the advanced stage of the examination, he asked delegations wishing to 
comment or ask questions on the Agreement to iden tify the relevant section of the Standard Format 
contained in document WT/REG155/2. 
4. The representative of Saint Kitts and Nevis , on behalf of the member states of (CARICOM), 
welcomed the opportunity to continue the process of fulfilling their obligations under Article V of the 
GATS Agreement and the transparency provisions of the WTO Agreement.  He was of the view that 
regional integration was an important impera tive for the small, vulnerable economies of 
CARICOM members.  All states in the region had shown their commitment to this process by signing 
on to the regime for the removal of restrictions by  December 2005 in order that they could trade freely 
in all sectors and modes of supplies within th e CARICOM single market and economy (CSME).  The 
services sector was the largest sector of the CSME  accounting for over 72 per cent of total GDP in 
2004, and over 50 per cent of employment.  Notw ithstanding this performance, the services economy 
of CARICOM was still insignificant in terms of its c ontribution to world trade.  As the Parties had 
indicated in their responses to questions, CARI COM countries had agreed that by December 2005 
they would have removed all the remaining measur es affecting trade in services.  However, major 
challenges affecting a number of countries had delaye d the completion of the process at the specified 
date.  These challenges particularly affected some of the smallest members of CARICOM, namely the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).  Some of these challenges included hurricanes that 
had devastated Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and the removal of preferences for 
traditional commodities such as sugar and bananas, which had adversely affected the economies of 
St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadin es, St. Lucia, and Dominica.  He thanked the 
delegations of Australia, the European Communities and the United States fo r their questions, which 
the Parties had endeavoured to respond to as comprehensively as possible in document 
WT/REG155/5.   WT/REG155/M/3 
Page 2  
 
  5. The representative of the United States
 said that her delegation supported and encouraged 
economic integration in the region and considered that liberalization in trade in services was a key 
component of that integration.  To that end, she asked whether the six small Parties to the Agreement 
were on track to meet the 30 June 2006 deadline for th e removal of restrictions to trade in services.  
The representative of Saint Kitts and Nevis  affirmed that they were. 
6. The representative of the European Communities  remarked that the cooperation by the 
CARICOM had been exemplary and provided a go od example of how developing countries could 
participate in CRTA examinations.   His delegation considered that the factual examination could be 
concluded. 
7. The Chairman  observed that the Committee seemed to have exhausted the factual inquiry and 
proposed that the Secretariat begin drafting the re port for this examination.   It was so agreed . 
8. The Committee took note  of the comments made. 
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