CARIFORUM

France welcomes the signing of the economic partnership agreement between the European Union and CARIFORUM.* The EPA, which had been initialed in December 2007, was signed in Barbados on October 15.

The agreement consolidates the system of trade preferences and the privileged relationship between the European Union and the ACP countries of the Caribbean grouped in CARIFORUM, while bringing them into compliance with WTO rules.

We hope that continued contacts with the European Commission will make it possible for Haiti and Guyana to sign this text in turn, thereby joining an agreement which will contribute to development and regional integration in the Caribbean.

*The CARIFORUM states are: Antigua and Barbuda; the Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; Dominica; Grenada; Guyana; Haiti; Jamaica; Saint Christopher and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent and The Grenadines; Surinam; Trinity and Tobago; the Dominican Republic.