Leaders from the sub-regional Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)
signed an economic agreement on December 29, which will form an Economic
Union in the region.
The new treaty updates the Treaty of Basseterre, which first entered into
force in June 1981, and will further remove barriers to trade between national markets
in goods, services, movement of capital and labor forces, which will transform
the islands into a single financial and economic space.
Eleven sectors have been listed in the treaty for joint action. These include
civil aviation, agriculture, tourism, education, environmental sustainability,
marine, disaster response, and telecommunications.
The OECS includes the islands of Antigua
and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St
Kitts and Nevis, Anguilla, and the British Virgin Islands (BVI); Montserrat is also a member,
although it is not party to the agreement. The islands, except the
BVI, already share a number of institutions including a central bank and a common
judiciary.
The signing of the agreement marks efforts to intensify economic ties in the
region in light of falling global trade due to the economic crisis. It is hoped
that the agreement will soon be ratified by the Member States so that it can
enter into force on June 30, 2010.
Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary General Edwin Carrington said that
any process which intensifies the integration process in the region should be
welcomed.
In that regard the OECS is showing the way and they are moving much
closer which is certain to benefit not only the OECS
but all in the wider
Caribbean. At minimum it sets an example for CARICOM, which if it follows suit
will also be another benefit from the OECS action
Only Montserrat, a British Overseas Territory and a founding member of the
sub-regional grouping, said that it had to defer signing the agreement.
"Although the treaty has now been redrafted to allow Montserrat to retain
its full membership and all the rights and duties appertaining before the coming
into force of the new treaty, Montserrat is not yet in a position to sign because
our internal approval process has not yet been completed," Claude Hogan,
director of regional affairs and trade, explained.
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