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Marsha Drakes, Tel: (246) 430-1678                                  marsha.drakes@crnm.org

For Immediate Release:                                                                                  No. 01/2008
March 11, 2008

THE OFFICIAL RELEASE OF THE EPA TEXT

BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS The legal scrub of the CARIFORUM-EC Economic Partnership Agreement has been completed. As a consequence the Text has been authorized by Heads of CARIFORUM for official release.

Commenting on the official release, CRNM Director-General Ambassador Richard Bernal said,

“The Text that has been released reflects the result of the legal scrub which was a verification process that checked the Agreement for errors and consistency in use of terminology.”

“The Text has been distributed to Member States where a process of legal review has been inaugurated to ensure consistency between the EPA and domestic laws. When that process has been completed, the respective Cabinets can confer authority to a Minister to sign the EPA.”

It was previously agreed that signature of the EPA text would take place in April. However, this will no longer be possible. As the Director-General explained, “The legal scrub has taken longer than was anticipated. It is necessary therefore to allow Member States enough time to complete their legal review of the text. Meanwhile, the European Commission will be completing their internal process of translating the EPA text into all if the official languages. Additionally, the College of Commissioners will be seeking the authority of the EU General Council to sign the Agreement.”

Signing by the EC and all the participating CARIFORUM Member States must occur before provisional application can be activated. The CARIFORUM Heads have committed themselves to take the necessary steps to complete their internal review processes in a timely manner to facilitate signature and provisional application of the agreement by 30 June 2008.

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