Guyanese attorney facilitates Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ one-day workshop

Tue June 25, 2013

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Consumer Affairs last Friday brought together a number of stakeholders in a one-day workshop to look at the legislative mechanism, as it relates to the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).{{more}}

Guyanese attorney Ronald Burch-Smith facilitated the workshop as part of his ongoing consultancy.

Birch-Smith’s work involves identifying all the legislation that needs to be amended or improved upon to ensure that SVG is firstly compliant with its EPA obligations, and to ensure that the practitioners operating within the framework of the EPA are given all the legislative space in which they need to operate.

Okola John-Patrick of the EPA Implementation Unit in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the process is very important not only for policy-makers, but also to ensure that the necessary infrastructure is in place for the private sector to take advantage of the EPA.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nathaniel Williams said that the process of ensuring that SVG is fully compliant with the EPA is a very important one. He, however, advised that stakeholders must think beyond the EPA, as there are other trade agreements, within CARICOM and even wider, in which some of the improvements to the current legislation can be translated.

The findings of the consultancy on the legislative mechanism as it relates to SVG’s compliance to the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement would be used as a tool for SVG’s monitoring and implementation process. In addition, the consultancy is expected to draft necessary legislation to effect immediate obligations under the EPA.(API)