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12 Views no discussions Share Sharing is caring! Share NewsRegional Secretary general tells Diaspora trade not the only measure of success for CARICOM by: – April 26, 2012
Share Tweet Secretary-general of CARICOM, Irwin LaRocqueWASHINGTON, USA — Secretary-general of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Irwin LaRocque, told leaders of the Washington, DC-based Caribbean Diaspora that merchandise trade was not the only measure to judge the success of the integration movement. The secretary-general was on the first day of his visit to the US capital when he met with a cross section of the Diaspora leadership at the offices of the Inter-American Development Bank on Tuesday. He brought the gathering up to date on the latest developments in the Community with emphasis on the reform process. The Diaspora offered suggestions on improving links with their homeland including greater use of the social networks and programmes specifically aimed at attracting their skills to assist the region’s development. Earlier in the day the secretary-general had met with the CARICOM Caucus of Ambassadors in Washington, during which issues related to relations between the United States and the region were discussed. These included the Community’s response to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and the Food Safety Modernisation Act (FSMA), two pieces of US legislation that would have adverse effects on the Community. Some provisions of the FATCA have implications for the banks and financial institutions in the region as the comprehensive nature of the legislation requires extensive reporting requirements on any institution doing business with persons and entities from the US. Given the demands of the FACTA, there is concern that compliance would contravene local laws to which the banking and financial institutions are obligated. With respect to the FSMA, the new legislation would have significant implications on how Caribbean businesses interact with the US and has the potential to reduce CARICOM’s exports to the US. This is due to the need for food exporters to satisfy more stringent requirements to gain entry into the market. LaRocque and the ambassadors also looked at responding to the developments surrounding the subsidies to US Virgin Islands rum producers, which have put CARICOM rum producers at a disadvantage. The ambassadors were also brought up to date on the support given to the Community by the IDB to develop the region’s Aid for Trade Strategy as well as in the area of Maritime Transport and Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D). The secretary-general also met with the president of the IDB Luis Alberto Moreno after paying a courtesy call on Richard Bernal, executive director for The Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago at the Bank. The special representative of the heads of government on Haiti, PJ Patterson, and Haiti’s special envoy to CARICOM, John Alexis, also attended this meeting at which the reconstruction of Haiti was a major topic.Caribbean News Now