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Thursday, April 24, 2008
Antigua and Barbuda will be requesting a two-year derogation of Article 164 at the Caricom heads of government meeting in July. Trade Coordinator Ambassador Dr. Clarence Henry said that a condition of Antigua and Barbuda being granted the three-month derogation of the Article in March at the 24th meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) was that the government has to submit a progress report to the Twenty-Ninth Meeting of the Conference of Caricom Heads of Government on 4 July. Henry referred to a COTED meeting in 2006 when Antigua and Barbuda was granted a special dispensation where it and St. Vincent & the Grenadines and Grenada have to agree on the modalities that would guide future increases in the price of flour.
No agreement has been reached yet, according to Henry, even with meetings chaired by the Caricom Secretary-General Dr. Edwin Carrington. Dr. Henry said Caricom countries might have to revisit Article 164 in its entirety especially given that the region and the international community are now facing the rising cost of living.
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