Atg: Late again?

A Barbados Advocate report over the weekend reported that Richard Bernal, director general for the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM), has warned that the region's external trade negotiations could be adversely affected if the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) is not established in time for next year's deadline. According to the report Bernal said indications were that the timeline would not be met and that every effort should be made to guard against this.

"It is the distinct possibility that there will be a divergence in coverage and schedule between the external negotiations and the (Caribbean) Single Market. This is not good for either the Single Market or the external negotiations. We must ensure that these two processes are synchronised," the RNM head told a conference on cash, trade and treasury management last week.